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Solar Eclipse Activity A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth. During a solar eclipse, the moon casts 3 shadows onto Earth: the umbra, penumbra and antumbra. If you are in the path of the umbral shadow you will experience total eclipse, but this only lasts for a couple of minutes. It is the dark center of the shadow. This shadow gets smaller as the moon moves away from Earth. The second shadow is called the penumbra. This is the lighter outer part of the shadow. It gets larger as the moon moves away from Earth and creates a partial eclipse. The antumbra shadow is the lighter part of the shadow that begins where the umbra tapers to a point. It creates an annular eclipse.
There are three types of solar eclipses: Total, Annular & Partial
The first is a total solar eclipse. The people who see the total eclipse are in the center of the moon’s shadow ( umbra ). The sky becomes very dark, as if it were night. Totality refers to the maximum point of an eclipse. For a total eclipse to take place, the sun, moon and Earth must be in a direct line. A total solar eclipse is only visible from a small area on Earth (line of totality). The second type of solar eclipse is a partial solar eclipse. This occurs when the sun, moon and Earth are not exactly lined up. People within the penumbra will only be able to see partial blockage of the sun. The moon is not in a direct line with the Sun and Earth. The third type is an annular solar eclipse. An annular eclipse happens when the Sun, moon and Earth are lined up but the moon is at its farthest distance from Earth. Because the moon is farther away from Earth, it seems smaller and does not block the entire view of the sun. This occurs within the antumbra , the lighter area of a shadow that appears beyond the umbra. This shadow only occurs when the light source (Sun) has a larger diameter. If you are in the antumbra during an annular solar eclipse, you can see the edge of the Sun's disk as a “ring of fire” around the Moon. 2024 Eclipse Simulator
Why don't eclipses happen more often? The Moon's orbit is an ellipse, not a circle and is tilted at 5 degrees, changing the placement of its shadow. Sometimes the Moon's shadow is too high above Earth. Sometimes the shadow is too low. Other times, it is just right, producing an eclipse. How does the moon create an eclipse if it’s 400 times smaller than the sun? Yes the sun is roughly 400x the size of the moon but it is also about 400x further away from Earth. The further distance from Earth makes the sun and moon appear to be roughly the same size. What’s a lunar eclipse? A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow. This can only occur during a full Moon, when the Moon is on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun. There are two parts to Earth’s shadow; the darker umbra and a slightly brighter penumbra, same as the shadow the moon casts during a solar eclipse. If the Moon passes fully into the umbral shadow, a total lunar eclipse occurs and the Moon will turn a reddish brown color (blood moon). Because Earth’s shadow is so huge, a total lunar eclipse takes place over several hours. If the Moon only passes part way into the shadow we get a partial lunar eclipse.
Solar Eclipse Comprehension Questions
1. Fill in the chart below using your knowledge of solar eclipses. Type of Eclipse Shadow Draw the Eclipse (Sun and Moon only)
- What is totality?
- What is the difference between a solar and lunar eclipse?
- What about the moon’s orbit keeps eclipses from occurring more frequently?
