The Explanation behind Eclipses

Unquestionably, the impact astronomy has had over the course of human culture

has been more than influential. We can even say it has shaped much of the advancement

of science as we know it. Moreover, we will notice that one particular astronomical

phenomenon has been studied for thousands of years by scientists from all over the world.

They have been consistently trying to find a logical explanation for it and finally find out

why it happens. What is certain is that they have come up with some quite interesting

answers. This peculiar phenomenon is the so called "eclipse". As we know, prediction of

eclipses has been the leading engine of study for astronomers and scientists in general.

Their bread and butter consisted of observing the long-term variations of the orbital

parameters of the Earth and the Moon, as well as recognizing periodicities. Throughout

history, some crucial and “teachable” moments have been provided by solar eclipses.

From the discovery of helium in 1868 by Pierre Jules César Janssen, the definition and

geometry of Delta T (the imprint of perturbations in Earth's rotation), all the way to the

confirmation of the Theory of General Relativity in 1919.

As the director of the Institute of Astrophysics Felipe Barrientos states: "Eclipses

are phenomena of high impact on the community and also allow us, as scientists, to do

research that otherwise would not be possible". The advantage of eclipses is that they can

be observed by all people and not only by astronomers. This is why the idea is to

participate not only as observers, but also in an active way. By simply engaging in

cultural activities that contribute to a better understanding of these types of phenomena is

more than enough to do our bit. Eclipses are phenomena that occur when the Moon blocks

the Sun's light from its visibility on Earth. In other words, when the alignment of the Sun,

the Moon and the Earth are in the same plane. However, it is of utmost importance to

know that you will not always observe the same thing in one eclipse as in another.
 A total solar eclipse is rarely seen, which is when the Sun’s light is completely

blocked by the Moon, because they require a more precise alignment between the centers

of both stars Sun and Moon. On the other hand, a solar eclipse can occur several times a

year, since they usually occur during the New Moon phase. Also called as “The Invisible

Phase” or the opposite of a full Moon, a New Moon is when we see the side of the Moon

that is not being illuminated by the Sun. In this lunar phase the Moon will also be very

close to the ecliptic plane, which is the curved line where the Sun passes around the Earth

(as seen only from the Earth). But a solar eclipse requires more than just a new Moon. It

also requires the Moon to be aligned with the Sun. This does not happen every month,

because the Moon's orbit is tilted. The period of time required for the Sun to travel across

the Moon's ascending node to its descending node and back is called an eclipse year, and

it lasts 346.6201 days. The nodes are the points where the Moon crosses the plane of the

Earth's orbit.

There is one more thing to take into account: The Moon's distance from the Earth.

The Moon's orbit is elliptical, and the time it takes the Moon to go from perigee (its closest

point to Earth) to apogee (its farthest point) and back is called an anomalistic month.

Normally an anomalistic month lasts 27.55455 days. If 239 of these months are added

together, the total amounts to 6585.54 days. Which coincides almost - but not quite – with

223 synodic months (complete cycle of phases of the Moon as seen from Earth). These

few hours of variation explain the small differences in successive eclipses in a saros cycle.

In these cycles, eclipses seemed to repeat themselves, and can apply to both lunar and

solar eclipses. It should be noted that these types of cycles have been useful over the years

for predicting the times at which eclipses will occur.

As mentioned before, the most important discoveries left by the eclipses are the

confirmation of the Theory of Relativity, the discovery of helium and the deciphering of
Delta T variations. Thanks to the total solar eclipse of May 29, 1919, the British

astronomer Arthur Eddington was able to prove that the light of the stars bends as it passes

by the Sun. This proved Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Einstein proposed

that a mass of a body (the Sun) deforms the space-time around it and that other bodies

(the planets) move around it following trajectories in this curved space. A ray of light also

moves in a curved space, thus deflecting its trajectory, which ceases to be a straight line.

In other words, light is deflected by the gravity of an object with a large mass, such as the

Sun.

In addition to this, on August 18, 1868, French astronomer Pierre Jules Janssen

discovered a yellow line in the solar spectrum while observing a solar eclipse. By doing

this, he demonstrated that the chromosphere (lower region of the Sun’s atmosphere) was

gaseous. The English astronomer Norman Lockyer (who accompanied Janssen)

determined this line had a wavelength of 587.49 nm. This length could not be attributed

to any previously known element. Thus, this particular spectral line was catalogued as a

possible source of an element not yet discovered on earth. Lockyer called this element

Helium: a name derived from Helios, son of the Titans Hyperion and Tea and

personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. The importance of this discovery should

be emphasized, since helium became the second most abundant element in the universe,

only after hydrogen.

Over time, the importance of taking records and measuring the temperature curve

during the eclipse has become more evident. After all, they are the only way to determine

the atmospheric changes that occur during this phenomenon. These changes range from

a cooling of the atmosphere or low temperatures to a decrease in ambient luminosity

(referring to the light that is present in an environment). For this reason, shifting to a more

recent discovery, we can refer to Kiyotaka Tanikawa from National Astronomical

Observatory of Japan in 2014. Tanikawa explains that the variations of Delta T are the

result of the variations of the inertial momentum of the Earth. “Delta T” is the

atmosphere’s temperature difference between two measurement points, which differ by

time and/or position. We interpret the latter variations as coming from the sea level

changes which are the direct consequences of climate changes. The records from ancient

observatories, therefore gain importance in understanding climate change throughout

history. By this we mean that the values of Delta T can be deciphered from ancient

eclipses.

Altogether, we can confidently agree that all data obtained during any eclipse will

be an important contribution to the scientific community. Eclipses, although fascinating

and very interesting phenomena to observe and study, are not just mere spectacles to be

stared at. They are undoubtedly an important event used to study the Earth, the Moon and

the Sun. But more importantly, astronomical phenomena give us an excellent opportunity

to divulge about science and be pleasantly amazed by the cosmos. They are the key to

decipher the enigmatic world surrounding us.

Bibliography:

• https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2015.0217

• https://alexanderstevenhid.wixsite.com/los-eclipses/importancia-de-los-

eclipses

• https://www.calendarr.com/ecuador/eclipse-solar/

• https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html