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Solar and Lunar

- A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, blocking the sun's light. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind Earth into its shadow. - There are three types of solar eclipses: total, partial, and annular. A total solar eclipse happens when the moon completely covers the sun. A partial solar eclipse occurs when the moon only partially covers the sun. During an annular solar eclipse, the moon appears smaller than the sun, leaving a ring of sunlight visible around its edges. - Lunar eclipses can be total, partial, or penumbral. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes completely into Earth's shadow. Partial lunar

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503 views8 pages

Solar and Lunar

- A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, blocking the sun's light. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind Earth into its shadow. - There are three types of solar eclipses: total, partial, and annular. A total solar eclipse happens when the moon completely covers the sun. A partial solar eclipse occurs when the moon only partially covers the sun. During an annular solar eclipse, the moon appears smaller than the sun, leaving a ring of sunlight visible around its edges. - Lunar eclipses can be total, partial, or penumbral. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes completely into Earth's shadow. Partial lunar

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Rhisia Rabor
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Lunar Eclipses and Solar Eclipses

An eclipse happens when a planet or a moon gets in the way of the sun’s
light. Here on Earth, we can experience two kinds of eclipses: solar
eclipses and lunar eclipses.
What’s the difference?

Solar Eclipse
A solar eclipse happens when the moon gets in the way of the sun’s light and
casts its shadow on Earth. That means during the day, the moon moves over
the sun and it gets dark. Isn’t it strange that it gets dark in the middle of the
day?
This total eclipse happens about every year and a half somewhere on Earth.
A partial eclipse, when the moon doesn’t completely cover the sun, happens
at least twice a year somewhere on Earth.

Note: This diagram is not to scale.


In this picture, the moon is covering up the sun in the middle of the day. This total solar eclipse was
visible from the northern tip of Australia on November 13, 2012. Image courtesy of Romeo Durscher.

But not everyone experiences every solar eclipse. Getting a chance to see a
total solar eclipse is rare. The moon’s shadow on Earth isn’t very big, so only
a small portion of places on Earth will see it. You have to be on the sunny side
of the planet when it happens. You also have to be in the path of the moon’s
shadow.
On average, the same spot on Earth only gets to see a solar eclipse for a few
minutes about every 375 years!

Caution!
Never look directly at the sun, even for a second! It will damage your
eyesight forever!
To view a solar eclipse, use special solar viewing glasses. Get them from a
camera store or online.
SUNGLASSES DO NOT WORK, EVEN IF YOU STACK MANY OF THEM
TOGETH

Lunar Eclipse
During a lunar eclipse, Earth gets in the way of the sun’s light hitting the
moon. That means that during the night, a full moon fades away as Earth’s
shadow covers it up.
The moon can also look reddish because Earth’s atmosphere absorbs the
other colors while it bends some sunlight toward the moon. Sunlight bending
through the atmosphere and absorbing other colors is also why sunsets are
orange and red.
During a total lunar eclipse, the moon is shining from all the sunrises and
sunsets occurring on Earth!

Note: This diagram is not to scale.

The moon appears orange-red in a total lunar eclipse on October 27, 2004.
Why don’t we have a lunar eclipse every month?
You might be wondering why we don’t have a lunar eclipse every month as
the moon orbits Earth. It’s true that the moon goes around Earth every month,
but it doesn’t always get in Earth’s shadow. The moon’s path around Earth is
tilted compared to Earth’s orbit around the sun. The moon can be behind
Earth but still get hit by light from the sun.

In this diagram, you can see that the moon’s orbit around Earth is at a tilt. This is why we don’t get a lunar
eclipse every month. This diagram is not to scale: the moon is much farther away from Earth than shown
here.

Because they don’t happen every month, a lunar eclipse is a special event.
Unlike solar eclipses, lots of people get to see each lunar eclipse. If you live
on the nighttime half of Earth when the eclipse happens, you’ll be able to see
it.

Remembering the Difference


It’s easy to get these two types of eclipses mixed up. An easy way to
remember the difference is in the name. The name tells you what gets darker
when the eclipse happens. In a solar eclipse, the sun gets darker. In
a lunar eclipse, the moon gets darker.
A solar eclipse happens when the New Moon moves between Earth and the Sun while
a lunar eclipse occurs when Earth casts a shadow on the Full Moon.
If a planet comes between Earth and the Sun, and is visible as a black dot against the Sun, it is
called a planet transit.

SOLAR ECLOPSE
Solar eclipses can only occur during a New Moon when the Moon moves between Earth and the
Sun and the 3 celestial bodies form a straight line: Earth–Moon–Sun.
There are between 2 and 5 solar eclipses every year.
There are 3 kinds of solar eclipses: total, partial, and annular. There is also a rare hybrid that is a
combination of an annular and a total eclipse.
Total Solar Eclipses
A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon completely covers the Sun, as seen from Earth. Totality
during such an eclipse can only be seen from a limited area, shaped like a narrow belt, usually about
160 km (100 mi) wide and 16,000 km (10,000 mi) long. Areas outside this track may be able to see a
partial eclipse of the Sun.
Looking at a solar eclipse without any protective eyewear can severely harm your eyes. The only
way to safely watch a solar eclipse is to wear protective eclipse glasses or to project an image of the
eclipsed Sun using a DIY Pinhole Projector.

Partial Solar Eclipses


A partial solar eclipse happens when the Moon only partially covers the disk of the Sun.
All Partial Solar Eclipses 1900-2199

 116–17 Jul 2019Partial Lunar Eclipse


 210 Jan 2020Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
 35 Jun 2020Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
 45 Jul 2020Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
 530 Nov 2020Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
 626 May 2021Total Lunar Eclipse
 719 Nov 2021Partial Lunar Eclipse
 816 May 2022Total Lunar Eclipse
 98 Nov 2022Total Lunar Eclipse
 105 May 2023Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
 1128 Oct 2023Partial Lunar Eclipse
 1225 Mar 2024Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
 1318 Sep 2024Partial Lunar Eclipse
 1414 Mar 2025Total Lunar Eclipse
 157 Sep 2025Total Lunar Eclipse
 163 Mar 2026Total Lunar Eclipse
 1728 Aug 2026Partial Lunar Eclipse
 1820–21 Feb 2027Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
 1917 Aug 2027Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
 2012 Jan 2028Partial Lunar Eclipse
 216 Jul 2028Partial Lunar Eclipse
 2231 Dec 2028Total Lunar Eclipse
Annular Solar Eclipses
An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon appears smaller than the Sun as it passes centrally
across the solar disk and a bright ring, or annulus, of sunlight remains visible during the eclipse.
All Annular Solar Eclipses 1900-2199

 26 Dec 2019Annular Solar Eclipse


 221 Jun 2020Annular Solar Eclipse
 310 Jun 2021Annular Solar Eclipse
 414 Oct 2023Annular Solar Eclipse
 52 Oct 2024Annular Solar Eclipse
 617 Feb 2026Annular Solar Eclipse
 76 Feb 2027Annular Solar Eclipse
 826 Jan 2028Annular Solar Eclipse

Hybrid Solar Eclipses


A hybrid solar eclipse is a rare form of solar eclipse, which changes from an annular to a total solar
eclipse, and vice versa, along its path.

Solar Eclipse

A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. In most cases, this
will happen during the New Moon phase. Unlike the lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse only lasts for a few
minutes.

Types of Solar Eclipses include:

1. Total Solar Eclipse: This is when the Sun is completely covered by the Moon. As this occurs
during the New Moon phase, the Moon’s orbit takes it closer to the Earth allowing its close proximity
to block out the Sun.

2. Partial Solar Eclipse: This is when the Moon only partially covers the Sun, making it appear as
though a bite was taken out of the Sun. Even a total eclipse experiences a partial eclipse as the
Moon slowly covers the Sun and then moves past it to once again reveal its surface.

3. Annular Solar Eclipse: This is when the Moon covers only the center of the Sun but the Sun’s
edges can still be seen. This is caused when the distance between the Earth and the Moon are
greater. The Sun’s “ring” is known as an “annulus” which is a circle that appear to have its center cut
out.

4. Hybrid Eclipse: This is when an eclipse is seen as an annular eclipse at some points on the
Earth while at other points it is seen as a partial eclipse.

Frequency of Eclipses

Eclipses are far more frequent than you would first imagine. This is mostly due to the fact that some
people will only consider a “total” eclipse which happens only about once every 20 years. However,
between the years of 1996 and 2020, there will be a total of 18 eclipses. That is 18 eclipses in just
24 years but in that same period of time there will only be 2 total eclipses. In addition, eclipses are
observed differently depending upon where you are located on the Earth’s surface.

Because eclipses also take place during the Moon’s Full Moon phase and New Moon phase, why
doesn’t an eclipse happen every month? The reason it doesn’t happen every month has to do with
the Moon’s tilt. Depending upon the Moon’s tilt, the shadow that is cast in an eclipse happens either
too soon or too late to be seen from the surface of the Earth. The tilt needs to be just right for the
shadow to be visible on Earth.

Now you have learned or been refreshed with knowledge about the Moon and Eclipses. If you feel
like you’re comfortable understanding eclipses, then it’s time to move forward and see if you can
answer the following ten questions.

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