Eclipse Vocabulary

Name _____________________________________________ Class ________________

Students will track vocabulary terms used in Lessons on the ECLIPSE.

Term Definition Image for understanding

Eclipse an obscuring of the light from

one celestial body by the
passage of another between it
and the observer or between it
and its source of illumination.

Solar Eclipse an eclipse in which the sun is

obscured by the moon.

Lunar Eclipse Lunar eclipses occur at the full

moon phase. When Earth is
positioned precisely between
the Moon and Sun, Earth's
shadow falls upon the surface of
the Moon, dimming it and
sometimes turning the lunar
surface a striking red over the
course of a few hours. Each
lunar eclipse is visible from half
of Earth.

Total Eclipse An eclipse in which the whole

disk of the Sun or Moon is
obscured
Partial Eclipse A partial solar eclipse happens
when the Moon passes between
the Sun and Earth but the Sun,
Moon, and Earth are not
perfectly lined up. Only a part of
the Sun will appear to be
covered, giving it a crescent
shape.

Atmosphere The atmosphere is a layer of gas

and suspended solids extending
from the Earth's surface up
many thousands of miles,
becoming increasingly thinner
with distance but always held by
the Earth's gravitational pull.
Share: The Atmosphere. The
Ionosphere.

Corona the rarefied gaseous envelope

of the sun and other stars. The
sun's corona is normally visible
only during a total solar eclipse,
when it is seen as an irregularly
shaped pearly glow surrounding
the darkened disk of the moon.

Earth’s Axis Earth's axis is an imaginary pole

going right through the center
of Earth from "top" to "bottom."
Earth spins around this pole,
making one complete turn each
day. That is why we have day
and night, and why every part of
Earth's surface gets some of
each. Earth has seasons because
its axis doesn't stand up
straight.

Earth’s Orbit Earth's orbit is elliptical and

reaches its closest approach to
the Sun, a perihelion of
147,090,000 km, on about
January fourth of each year.
Aphelion comes six months later
at 152,100,000 km.