Top Document: [sci.astro] Solar System (Astronomy Frequently Asked Questions) (5/9) Previous Document: E.14.4 What was the origin of the Moon? Next Document: E.16 What's the Oort Cloud and Kuiper Belt? See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge Author: Joseph Lazio <jlazio@patriot.net> A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and Sun and the Moon's shadow crosses the Earth, viz. (not to scale!) Sun Moon Earth Solar eclipses can be total, partial, or annular. A total eclipse is when the Moon obscures the Sun entirely. A partial eclipse is when the Moon only covers a portion of the Sun. Because the Moon's orbit about the Earth is not perfectly circular, sometimes it is slightly farther away from the Earth. If a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is at the far point in its orbit, the Moon will not cover the Sun entirely. A thin ring, or annulus, of sunlight will be visible around the Moon. This kind of eclipse is called an annular eclipse. **Solar eclipses can be damaging to one's eyesight, unless proper precautions are taken!** See FAQ Question B.11 and the Eclipse Home Page, <URL:http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/>. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the Moon and Sun, viz. (again, not to scale) Sun Earth Moon Lunar eclipses are either total or partial, depending upon whether the Moon moves completely into the Earth's shadow or not. Lunar eclipses are always safe to view. Eclipses do not happen once a month because the Earth's orbit about the Sun and the Moon's orbit about the Earth are not in the same plane. The above "pictures" are if one is looking "down" on the Earth from the North Pole (or "up" on the South Pole). If we look at the system from the side (looking at the Earth's equator), the typical situation is Sun Earth Moon (with the angle shown exaggerated greatly, the actual angle is about 5 degrees). Only when the three bodies are in the same plane can an eclipse occur. The total number of eclipses, both lunar and solar, never exceeds seven in a year. Because the Moon is so much smaller than the Earth, and casts a smaller shadow, solar eclipses are more infrequent than lunar eclipses; in a year, between 2 to 4 lunar eclipses will occur and at least 2 solar eclipses will occur. *Total* solar eclipses happen only every 1.5 years or so. For additional information see the Eclipse Home Page, <URL:http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/>. User Contributions:Top Document: [sci.astro] Solar System (Astronomy Frequently Asked Questions) (5/9) Previous Document: E.14.4 What was the origin of the Moon? Next Document: E.16 What's the Oort Cloud and Kuiper Belt? Part0 - Part1 - Part2 - Part3 - Part4 - Part5 - Part6 - Part7 - Part8 - Single Page [ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ] Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer: jlazio@patriot.net
Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM
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