INFERRING HOW NATURAL OCURRENCE OF

ECLIPSE IS CAUSED BY THE REVOLUTION OF THE

MOON AROUND THE EARTH
By: Mackenzcie Paul J. De La Rita

Totality during the 1999 solar eclipse. Solar prominences can be seen along the limb (in red) as well as
extensive coronalfilaments.

An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily

obscured, either by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass
between it and the viewer. This alignment of three celestial objects is known as a syzygy.[1] Apart
from syzygy, the term eclipse is also used when a spacecraft reaches a position where it can
observe two celestial bodies so aligned. An eclipse is the result of either an occultation (completely
hidden) or a transit (partially hidden).
The term eclipse is most often used to describe either a solar eclipse, when the Moon's shadow
crosses the Earth's surface, or a lunar eclipse, when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow.
However, it can also refer to such events beyond the Earth–Moon system: for example, a planet
moving into the shadow cast by one of its moons, a moon passing into the shadow cast by its host
planet, or a moon passing into the shadow of another moon. A binary star system can also produce
eclipses if the plane of the orbit of its constituent stars intersects the observer's position.
For the special cases of solar and lunar eclipses, these only happen during an "eclipse season", the
two times of each year when the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun crosses with the plane of
the Moon's orbit around the Earth. The type of solar eclipse that happens during each season
(whether total, annular, hybrid, or partial) depends on apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon. If the
orbit of the Earth around the Sun, and the Moon's orbit around the Earth were both in the same
plane with each other, then eclipses would happen each and every month. There would be a lunar
eclipse at every full moon, and a solar eclipse at every new moon. And if both orbits were perfectly
circular, then each solar eclipse would be the same type every month. It is because of the non-
planar and non-circular differences that eclipses are not a common event. Lunar eclipses can be
viewed from the entire nightside half of the Earth. But solar eclipses, particularly total eclipses
occurring at any one particular point on the Earth's surface, are very rare events that can be many
decades apart.
A solar eclipse occurs when an observer (on Earth) passes through the shadow cast by
the Moon which fully or partially blocks ("occults") the Sun. This can only happen when
the Sun, Moon and Earth are nearly aligned on a straight line in three dimensions (syzygy) during
a new moon when the Moon is close 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 only occur 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 (29.530587981 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][3]
Total eclipses are rare because the timing of the new moon within the eclipse season needs to be
more exact for an alignment between the observer (on Earth) and the centers of the Sun and Moon.
In addition, the elliptical orbit of the Moon often takes it far enough away from Earth that its apparent
size is not large enough to block the Sun entirely. Total solar eclipses are rare at any particular
location because totality exists only along a narrow path on the Earth's surface traced by the Moon's
full shadow or umbra.
An eclipse is a natural phenomenon. However, in some ancient and modern cultures, solar eclipses
were attributed to supernatural causes or regarded as bad omens. A total solar eclipse can be
frightening to people who are unaware of its astronomical explanation, as the Sun seems to
disappear during the day and the sky darkens in a matter of minutes.
Since looking directly at the Sun can lead to permanent eye damage or blindness, special eye
protection or indirect viewing techniques are used when viewing a solar eclipse. It is technically safe
to view only the total phase of a total solar eclipse with the unaided eye and without protection;
however, this is a dangerous practice, as most people are not trained to recognize the phases of an
eclipse, which can span over two hours while the total phase can only last a maximum of 7.5
minutes for any one location. People referred to as eclipse chasers or umbraphiles will travel to
remote locations to observe or witness predicted central solar eclipses.[4][5]

Physical attributes of a Solar Eclipse

A Solar eclipse can only occur when there is a New Moon and only when the Earth, Moon and Sun are in
perfect alignment or near perfect alignment. The Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, and the Moon
fully covers the Sun, blocking sunlight reaching Earth's surface and turns daytime into darkness, while still
allowing observers to view the beautiful corona atmosphere of the Sun.

Solar Eclipses occur during daytime when the New Moon is in the daytime sky and moves across the sky but is
invisible due to the glare of the Sun and only becomes visible when the eclipse begins. As the Moon continues
moving across the daytime sky it makes 1st contact against the Sun. This is the beginning of the eclipse.
Totality occurs when the Moon completely covers the Sun turning daylight into darkness and allowing
observers to view the beautiful corona atmosphere of the Sun.

The Moon passes in front of the Sun blocking sunlight reaching Earth. The penumbra shadow of the Moon (the
outer fainter shadow) falls onto Earths daytime surface and a partial solar eclipse is observable.

Under the Umbra shadow a Total Solar Eclipse is seen and makes a shadow of darkness along a narrow path.
This shadow width varies according to one’s local and geographical conditions but is typically 140 miles wide
by 6,0000 miles long.
To observers outside the area of totality a partial eclipse of varying degrees is seen. The narrow path of
Totality results in only a minority of people being able to observe the event. A Total Solar Eclipse duration
lasts between a few seconds and a few minutes.

Totality during the lunar eclipse of 27 July 2018. Direct sunlight is being blocked by the Earth, and the only light
reaching it is sunlight refracted by Earth's atmosphere, producing a reddish color.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind Earth and into its shadow.[1] This can
occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned (in syzygy), with Earth
between the other two. A lunar eclipse can occur only on the night of a full moon. The type and
length of a lunar eclipse depend on the Moon's proximity to either node of its orbit.
During a total lunar eclipse, Earth completely blocks direct sunlight from reaching the Moon. The
only light reflected from the lunar surface has been refracted by Earth's atmosphere. This light
appears reddish for the same reason that a sunset or sunrise does: the Rayleigh scattering of bluer
light. Due to this reddish color, a totally eclipsed Moon is sometimes called a blood moon.
Unlike a solar eclipse, which can be viewed only from a certain relatively small area of the world, a
lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse lasts a
few hours, whereas a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes as viewed from any given place,
due to the smaller size of the Moon's shadow. Also unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to
view without any eye protection or special precautions, as they are dimmer than the full Moon.