Anywhere from four to seven times a year, our Earth, Moon and Sun line up just right to create the cosmic-scale shadow show known as an eclipse. The Moon's orbit around Earth is tilted relative to Earth's orbit around the Sun. This tilt is the reason why we have occasional eclipses instead of eclipses every month.
There are two types of eclipses: solar and lunar. During a solar eclipse, the Moon blocks the Sun from view. During a lunar eclipse, Earth’s shadow obscures the Moon.
Solar Eclipses
Solar eclipses happen only at the new moon phase, when the Moon is between Earth and the Sun. During a solar eclipse, the Moon casts a shadow on Earth, and blocks or partially blocks our view of the Sun. Though solar eclipses happen as often as lunar eclipses, they are visible from such a small area of Earth each time that it’s much rarer to encounter one.
In this animation, the umbra portion of the Moon’s shadow barely reaches the Earth as it traces a path across North America. Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
During a solar eclipse, the Moon's shadow on Earth’s surface is only about 300 miles (480 km) wide. The shadow consists of two parts, the umbra, where the Sun is completely blocked, and the penumbra, where the Sun is partially obscured. People in the umbra will see a total eclipse, while people in the penumbra will see a partial eclipse. Though the shadow is narrow and the total eclipse lasts for only minutes, our planet rotates fast enough to bring the shadow a third of the way around Earth's surface before the Moon moves out of alignment with the Sun.
That we often get such impressive solar eclipses on Earth is a lucky chance of nature. The Sun is vastly larger than the Moon ― it’s diameter is about 400 times the Moon’s. But the Moon is roughly 400 times closer to Earth. This makes it possible for the Moon to almost perfectly block out the Sun when everything aligns.An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is farthest from Earth and does not block the entire view of the Sun.(Unsplash)
Solar eclipse to occur on June 10, some regions to witness 'ring eclipse'The upcoming lunar eclipse is getting a lot of attention since it is dubbed as 'ring eclipse', a phenomenon when the Sun appears as a very bright ring surrounding the dark disk of the Moon.After witnessing a super blood moon during the lunar eclipse on Wednesday, the world is ready for the solar eclipse on June 10. It will be an annular eclipse in many parts of the world, with the Sun and Moon being exactly in line with the Earth. The upcoming solar eclipse is getting a lot of attention since it is dubbed as 'ring eclipse', a phenomenon when the Sun appears as a very bright ring surrounding the dark disk of the Moon.
A total solar eclipse also requires the Moon and the Sun to be in the direct line of the Earth. However, it is visible from a small area since people who see the total eclipse are in the centre of the Moon's shadow when it hits Earth.An annular eclipse differs from a total eclipse based on the distance of the Moon from the Earth. It occurs when the Moon is farthest from Earth, which makes it look smaller than usual and does not block the entire view of the Sun.
Much of Europe, Asia and North America, Atlantic, Arctic regions will witness at least a partial eclipse. While the eclipse will not be visible from India, except in some parts of Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, people can see the eclipse via a live webcam.
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What Happens During a Solar Eclipse?
This state of affairs won’t last forever. The Moon started its existence much closer to Earth, and has been slowly drifting outward at the rate of about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) per year. Once it makes it past 14,600 miles (23,500 km), it’ll appear too small from Earth to cover the Sun. But don’t panic if you haven’t seen an eclipse yet ― you’ve got another 600-million-plus years before that border is breached. In the meantime, you can get a preview during an annular eclipse, when the Sun, Moon and Earth align but the Moon’s orbit places it too far away from Earth to entirely block the disk of the Sun. During an annular eclipse, the sky takes on a twilight cast, but some of the Sun still shows.
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