An eclipse is an amazing astronomical phenonmenon which can be seen
and enjoyed by anyone — if you're in the right place at the right time.
There are two types of eclipse, each with its own distinctive characteristics:
- A Solar eclipse occurs in daytime when the
New Moon —
normally not visible during daytime — passes directly in
front of the Sun, and casts its shadow on the Earth. In the middle of
the day, you see the Moon move over the Sun, blacking out a part of it;
and in a total solar eclipse, the Sun is completely blacked out
for a few seconds, or even minutes.
- In a Lunar eclipse, the Moon passes through the Earth's
shadow. In the night of a Full Moon,
when a lunar eclipse occurs, you
can see the Earth's shadow move over the moon; in a total lunar
eclipse, the Moon is tinted a deep copper-red by the Earth's
atmosphere, creating a beautiful effect.
An eclipse is an interesting event; the visible effect varies, but a
deep eclipse is well worth watching. And the visual effects of a total
eclipse are totally spectacular, and not to be missed!
A total solar eclipse, in particular, is
the most amazing astronomical spectacle that can be seen from the Earth,
and something that everyone should try to see in their lifetime at least
once.
The following pages provide more information on what an eclipse
is all about:
Once you've learned what an eclipse is, our other main sections have
plenty more information for you:
Lunar Nonsense
There is, unfortunately, a lot of garbage put about concerning eclipses,
and astronomical events in general. A lot of this comes from the usual
fringe elements, but an alarming amount of dreadful nonsense comes from
the so-called "respectable" media (cough BBC cough). So let's try to
sort through it.
Some of the crazier corners of the Internet delight in spreading stories
about global catastrophes which are going to be caused by eclipses, or
planetary alignments, or whatever. The truth is that these kinds of
disaster stories are pure baloney. Total solar eclipses, planetary
alignments, etc., have been happening since the solar system was created
5 billion years ago, with no ill effects.
Actually, the Sun and Moon come into alignment with the Earth twice
every month; this causes Spring and Neap tides, but nothing else. An
eclipse is no different in that regard; it doesn't have any extra
effect on the Earth, not even slightly higher tides. (Any additional
pull from having the Sun and Moon perfectly aligned — as opposed to
the very close alignment that happens every month — would be so small
as to be un-measurable.)
If you want to know why we don't get an eclipse every month, the
science pages have the answer!
Some other misinformation:
