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Solar Eclipse Occurs When A Portion of The

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow on Earth. This happens when the Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned during a new moon, with the Moon closest to the ecliptic plane. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon fully obscures the Sun, while partial and annular eclipses only partially block the Sun.

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Camille Doon Perlada
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17 views1 page

Solar Eclipse Occurs When A Portion of The

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow on Earth. This happens when the Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned during a new moon, with the Moon closest to the ecliptic plane. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon fully obscures the Sun, while partial and annular eclipses only partially block the Sun.

Uploaded by

Camille Doon Perlada
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Solar eclipse 

occurs when a portion of the Earth is engulfed in a shadow cast by the Moon which


fully or partially blocks sunlight. This occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned. Such
alignment coincides with a new moon (syzygy) indicating the Moon is closest to the ecliptic plane.
[1]
 In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. In partial and annular eclipses,
only part of the Sun is obscured.
If the Moon were in a perfectly circular orbit, a little closer to the Earth, and in the same orbital plane,
there would be total solar eclipses every new moon. However, since the Moon's orbit is tilted at more
than 5 degrees to the Earth's orbit around the Sun, its shadow usually misses Earth. A solar eclipse
can occur only when the Moon is close enough to the ecliptic plane during a new moon. Special
conditions must occur for the two events to coincide because the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic at
its orbital nodes twice every draconic month (27.212220 days) while a new moon occurs one
every synodic month (29.53059 days). Solar (and lunar) eclipses therefore happen only
during eclipse seasons resulting in at least two, and up to five, solar eclipses each year; no more
than two of which can be total eclipses.[2][

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