What is a Solar Eclipse ?

Sometimes when the moon orbits Earth, it moves between the sun and Earth. When this happens, the moon blocks the light of the sun from reaching Earth. This causes an eclipse of the sun, or solar eclipse. During a solar eclipse, the moon casts a shadow onto Earth.

There are three types of solar eclipses.

The first is a total solar eclipse. A total solar eclipse is only visible from a small area on Earth. The people who see the total eclipse are in the center of the moon’s shadow when it hits Earth. The sky becomes very dark, as if it were night. For a total eclipse to take place, the sun, moon and Earth must be in a direct line.

The second type of solar eclipse is a partial solar eclipse. This happens when the sun, moon and Earth are not exactly lined up. The sun appears to have a dark shadow on only a small part of its surface.

The third type is an annular (ANN you ler) solar eclipse. An annular eclipse happens when the moon is farthest from Earth. Because the moon is farther away from Earth, it seems smaller. It does not block the entire view of the sun. The moon in front of the sun looks like a dark disk on top of a larger sun-colored disk. This creates what looks like a ring around the moon.

During a solar eclipse, the moon casts two shadows on Earth. The first shadow is called the umbra (UM bruh). This shadow gets smaller as it reaches Earth. It is the dark center of the moon’s shadow. The second shadow is called the penumbra (pe NUM bruh). The penumbra gets larger as it reaches Earth. People standing in the penumbra will see a partial eclipse. People standing in the umbra will see a total eclipse.

Solar eclipses happen once every 18 months. Unlike lunar eclipses, solar eclipses only last for a few minutes.

YouTube Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_201ttTSG30

Credits - https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-an-eclipse-58

Comments

What is Reflection of Light ?

Reflection is a very common word and is related to the fields of physics and mathematics. The basic meaning of a reflection is ‘Something Returned in Response’ . Even in our conversation we use this term at times, to mean a some one’s reaction. In optics, it relates to an image of an object. Light rays are basically wave motions and they are capable of being reflected by an interface in between two mediums. Such interfaces are called Light Reflectors . The most common Light reflector is the one we use many times a day, which is nothing but a plane mirror. But it is not only a plane mirror reflects light. Even a curved mirror does that though the nature of reflection of light by curved mirrors is different. YouTube Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PRRUgoTSro Credits - http://physics.tutorvista.com/light/reflection.html

What is a Harvest Moon ?

The Harvest Moon is the full Moon nearest the start of fall or the autumnal equinox. This usually means it coincides with the September full Moon, though it can also fall nearer to the October full Moon, occurring anywhere from two weeks before to two weeks after the equinox. In 2017 , the Harvest Moon will rise on October 5 at 2:40 P.M. EDT. WHY IS IT CALLED THE HARVEST MOON? For several evenings, the moon rise comes soon after sunset. This results in an abundance of bright moonlight early in the evening , which was a traditional aide to farmers and crews harvesting their summer-grown crops. Hence, it’s called the “Harvest” Moon! CREDITS - 1) https://www.almanac.com/content/what-harvest-moon 2) http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/when-is-harvest-moon-october-space-science/ YOUTUBE LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJT...

What is a Blue Moon ?

A "Blue Moon" is a fairly infrequent phenomenon involving the appearance of an additional full moon within a given period. But which period — there are two definitions of the term, and one was borne out of a misunderstanding of the other. The older meaning defines a Blue Moon as the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. Called a seasonal Blue Moon, this occurs about every 2.7 years. Why the third moon? Seasons normally have three full moons, and some of them, for traditional and religious reasons, must occur at specific times of the year. The other meaning is that a Blue Moon is the second full moon within a single calendar month. This definition — a monthly Blue Moon — has gained popularity in recent years because of a misinterpretation of an almanac's original definition. Blue Moons are not typically blue in color — that happens only, well, once in a Blue Moon , but there is the possibility for a hint of blue in any full moon. YouTube Li...

SCIENCE IN UNIVERSE

Search This Blog