Solar Eclipses

The next annular solar eclipse will be on January 15, 2010. It will be visible from central Africa across the Indian Ocean to the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka, and across to central China.

The Earth. In a lunar eclipse, the Earth's shadow blocks sunlight from hitting the Moon.

There are generally two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses each year. Sometimes there are more, or fewer; for example, in 2011, there will be no solar eclipses at all. The maximum possible number is 5 per year, which happens very infrequently.

For an eclipse to take place the earth, moon and sun must form a straight line. then the shadow of the earth r the moon will fall upon the moon or the earth, and that is an eclipse.

There are two types of eclipses; Solar and lunar. A solar eclipse is when the moon passes in front of the sun causing it to "disappear." A lunar eclipse is when the Earth passes between the sun and moon so that the moon doesn't get light causing it to appear red-ish.

The one on the right because if the one on the left show'd it then we'd all have IPhone's and if we all had IPhone's most of us would turn gay and if most of us turned gay then God would of broke his promise by flooding the Earth again.

-Aristotle

an example of a lunar eclipse is when u put the moon is behind the earth.

Because the shadow of the Moon is only so big, and the Earth spins at almost a thousand miles per hour at the equator. And the 7-minute number is only for a solar eclipse that happens at perigee, when the Moon is as close as it ever comes to the Earth.

When the Moon is farther from the Earth, the Moon's shadow on the Earth is smaller, and the eclipse lasts a shorter time.

When the sun and moon are aligned, there are exceptionally strong gravitational forces, causing very high and very low tides which are called spring tides, though they have nothing to do with the season. Spring tides occur at new moon and full moon, while neap tides occur during quarter phases of the moon.

It must occur at new moon when the moon passes exactly in fron of the sun as seen from a place on earth.

Usually at new moon the moon is not exactly in line and it passes above or below the sun so there is no eclipse.

The outermost layer of the sun is the corona. Only visible during eclipses, it is a low density cloud of plasma with higher transparency than the inner layers.

A solar eclipse may be partial, total, or annular.

Because a total lunar is seen from half the Earth simultaneously. A total solar is only seen along a strip of the Earth's surface that is less than 50 miles wide, which contains fewer people.

Shadows. All eclipses are shadows.

A lunar eclipse is the shadow of the Earth on the Moon.

A solar eclipse is a shadow of the Moon on the Earth.

The solar eclipse of July 22, 2017 will be total through South Carolina and will be a 95% partial eclipse throughout most of North Carolina. The April 8, 2024 eclipse will be total through Texas through Maine, and will be partial over most of the eastern U.S.

The next total eclipse visible in North Carolina will be on May 11, 2078.

They're not. During the 20th Century, there were 228 solar eclipses and 229 lunar ones, which is

about as equal as you can get.

But lunar eclipses are visible over a wider area. So if you stay in one place, you're

more likely to see lunar eclipses more often than solar ones.

In the case of a total lunar eclipse, there is no 'path of totality'. If the lunar eclipse

is total, then the entire moon is entirely inside the Earth's shadow. Anybody who can

see the moon at the time sees the same view of the eclipse. That means everybody

on the night-time side of the Earth.

The eclipse gives scientists a chance to observe the atmosphere of the Sun, normally swamped by the brilliance of the Sun.

Nothing 'near' about it. It must be New Moon in order for a solar eclipse to occur.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow, which can only occur when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun - which would normally be when we would see a Full Moon. Therefore, lunar eclipses can only occur during a Full Moon. Similarly, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes in front of the Sun casting its shadow upon the surface of the Earth. This can only occur when the Moon is on the same side of the Earth as the Sun - which would normally be when there is a New Moon. The reason we don't normally get eclipses during Full and New Moons is because the Moon's orbit is tilted with respect to the Earth's orbit. During a Full Moon, the tilted path of the Moon usually takes it above or below the Earth's shadow and thus we get no lunar eclipse and just a normal Full Moon. During a New Moon, the tilted path of the Moon usually makes it such that the shadow of the Moon is cast above or below the surface of the Earth and thus we get no solar eclipse and just a normal New Moon.

The maximum number of lunar eclipses that can occur per year is 3 (minimum 0), and the maximum number of solar eclipses is 5 (minimum 2). However, these numbers are very rare. On average, there are 1-2 lunar eclipses (partial or total) and 2-3 solar eclipses (partial, annular, or total) each year.

However, it should be noted that because during a solar eclipse the Moon's shadow does not cover the entire surface of the Earth (because the Moon is smaller than the Earth) not everyone on Earth will see the solar eclipse as it occurs. Instead, only those living along the path of the Moon's shadow (called the path of totality) will see it. On the other hand, everyone will be able to see a lunar eclipse. Thus, it is far more common for people to see a lunar eclipse at any given location than a solar eclipse. Put another way, the average time between two solar eclipses seen from the same location is about 360 years while the average time between two lunar eclipses seen from the same location is between 6 and 12 months.

Twice a year, there is a roughly 38 day window of time during which an eclipse could occur. These windows do not occur at the same time every year, so the term "season" does not refer to a particular time during the calendar year (Spring, Summer, etc.). The two eclipse seasons are separated by just under 6 months. Thus, the complete eclipse cycle lasts for roughly 345 days while the calendar year lasts for 365 days, so the eclipse seasons shift earlier and earlier each year - realigning again every 19 years.

During the two eclipse seasons the Moon's orbit is titled in such a way that it passes through the Earth's shadow and directly across the line of sight between the Earth and the Sun. If the Moon passes into a Full or New phase during this time an eclipse will occur. If a lunar and solar eclipse occur during the same season, they will be separated by about two weeks (the time it takes for the Moon to move from the opposite side of the Earth to the same side of the Earth as the Sun).

Definitely not! Two people standing right next to each other will generally have the same view, but if two people are a mile apart, its' possible that one will experience a total solar eclipse while the other will see only a partial eclipse.

For people who are right on the edge of the path of totality, it's possible to do an interesting experiment; line up a set of telescopes every 10 yards or so, connected to photosensors and highly accurate clocks. Measure the precise time at which the Sun flickers into view through the valleys in the mountains on the Moon, and you can create amazingly accurate elevation maps of the lunar mountains.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth, blocking the Sun's light and casting a shadow on Earth. There are different types of solar eclipses, including total, partial, and annular, depending on the alignment of the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Solar eclipses are rare events that can only be seen from specific locations on Earth.

An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. This is because the distance of the moon from earth varies. The Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the Moon.

The next eclipse of the sun you'll be able to see in California is going to be May 20, 2012.

Late that spring afternoon, all of northern California north of a line from Punta Delgada

to Lake Tahoe will be directly in the path of an annular eclipse of the sun. All the rest

of the state sees a deep partial eclipse.

This will be a "welders glasses" eclipse. It does not become night in the daytime, but

the moon will move completely across the sun, leaving a thin, fiery ring (or "annulus"

in Latin, hence the "annular" eclipse) lasting for over five minutes.

There will be other solar eclipses before then, but none is visible in California. For instance,

in the late evening of Wednesday February 6th, an annular eclipse passes over parts of

west Antarctica. Since it happens around 8 p.m. Pacific Time, you can't see any of this

solar eclipse. The only inhabited parts of the world in its path are New Zealand and the

southeastern corner of Australia, which see a partial eclipse of the sun in the late

afternoon of February 7th (west of the International Date Line).