Eclipses are spectacular astronomical events. Not only amaze us with an intense color variation of the Moon or, even more astonishing, change into full darkness during a few minutes in broad daylight, but also, we can see in real-time the stars motion when, for instance, the Moon stands between the Sun and us, or when the Earth stands between the Sun and the Moon.
In general terms, there are two types of eclipses: Moon eclipses and Sun eclipses[1].
There are three types of Sun eclipses, and they distinguish from one another depending on the occultation type of the Moon and the Sun.
Total eclipses: refers to when the Moon blocks the Sun entirely during the full eclipse.
Annular eclipses: refers to when the Moon is farther from the Earth, and its shape doesn’t block the Sun completely, leaving a Sun ring around the Moon.
Hybrid eclipses: refers to when the Moon is just in the distance where it can completely block the Sun, however, as it moves forward, it moves slightly away from the Earth, and stop eclipsing the Sun, becoming into an annular eclipse. It can start either as an annular eclipse, and then moving a little to become in a total eclipse.
HOW DO ECLIPSES OCCUR?
Both solar and lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon are in the same line. We talk about lunar eclipses when the Earth gets on the way of the sunlight, darkening the Moon completely. In the case of solar eclipses, the Moon is the one who gets on the way of the solar light before reaching the Earth.
A Moon eclipse is visible from anywhere on the terrestrial globe that is on the same side as the Moon, whereas a solar eclipse is only visible from a small part of the Earth since our planet is larger than the Moon, so that it can hide the sunlight from the whole surface. In the case of the Moon, since it is smaller in size, it blocks the sunlight entirely in a very vast region of the Earth, and partially in a broader region (which we called as a partial eclipse of the Sun).
The lunar eclipses always occur in Full Moon, whereas solar eclipses occur in New Moon because only in that position they are entirely in line.
To understand this better, let’s review the following figures:
- ↑ Technically, there is a third type which involves two stars. We will discuss it in chapter V.
