Eclipse Types: Solar and Lunar

Eclipse

• An eclipse occurs when the shadow of one body falls on another body.

Types of Eclipses

• There are two types of eclipses: Solar Eclipse and Lunar Eclipse.

Solar Eclipse

• A Solar Eclipse occurs when the Sun casts a shadow of the Moon on Earth.
• The Sun is blocked out by the Moon, and cannot be seen from areas on Earth that lie in the Moon’s shadow.
• Total Solar Eclipse: The disc of the Moon exactly covers the Sun, blocking its light completely.
• Annular Solar Eclipse: The disc of the Moon only partially covers the Sun, occurs when the Moon is slightly further away from the Sun when the eclipse occurs.

Lunar Eclipse

• A Lunar Eclipse occurs when the Earth lies between the Sun and Moon, so that Earth's shadow darkens the Moon.
• The phase of the Moon during a Lunar Eclipse is Full Moon.
• Types of Lunar Eclipses:
  • Total Lunar Eclipse
  • Partial Lunar Eclipse
  • Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
  • Partial Penumbral Eclipse
• During a Total Lunar Eclipse, the Moon can appear blood red due to the refraction of sunlight through the Earth's atmosphere.
• The Moon does not totally disappear during a Total Lunar Eclipse, but appears as a dark red color.

Eclipse Shadow Structure

• The Shadow Structure consists of:
  • Umbra: The innermost and darkest part of the shadow.
  • Penumbra: The lighter outer part of the shadow.

Eclipse Occurrence

• A Solar Eclipse does not occur every month because the Moon's orbit is tilted about 5o to the Earth's orbit, so the shadows usually miss.
• The Moon must be in the New Moon phase for a Solar Eclipse to occur.

Learn about the two types of eclipses, Solar and Lunar, and how they occur when the shadow of one body falls on another body.