Eclipes & Its Types_rajpurantc_hb

GOVT. CO.ED. SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL,NTC HIGH BRANCH

RAJPURA

ECLIPES

DEVELOPED BY  GURDEEP

SINGH  AMARJEET SINGH

DEFINATION OF ECLIPSE  Eclipse,

in astronomy, the obscuring of one celestial body by another, particularly that of the sun or a planetary satellite. Two kinds of eclipses involve the earth: those of the moon, or lunar eclipses; and those of the sun, or solar eclipses .

TYPES OF ECLIPSE  LUNAR

ECLIPSE  SOLAR ECLIPSE

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF ECLIPSE A

lunar eclipse occurs when the earth is between the sun and the moon and its shadow darkens the moon. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is between the sun and the earth and its shadow moves across the face of the earth. Transits and occultations are similar astronomical phenomena but are not as spectacular as eclipses because of the small size of these bodies as seen from earth .

LUNAR ECLIPSE

TOTAL AND PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE A

total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes completely into the umbra. If it moves directly through the center, it is obscured for about 2 hours. If it does not pass through the center, the period of totality is less and may last for only an instant if the moon travels through the very edge of the umbra.  A partial lunar eclipse occurs when only a part of the moon enters the umbra and is obscured.

SOLAR ECLIPSE  Total

solar eclipses occur when the moon’s umbra reaches the earth. The diameter of the umbra is never greater than 268.7 km (167 mi) where it touches the surface of the earth, so that the area in which a total solar eclipse is visible is never wider than that and is usually considerably narrower. The width of the penumbra shadow, or the area of partial eclipse on the surface of the earth, is about 4828 km (about 3000 mi).

FREQUENCY OF ECLIPSES  If

the earth’s orbit, or the ecliptic, were in the same plane as the moon’s orbit, two total eclipses would occur during each lunar month, a lunar eclipse at the time of each full moon, and a solar eclipse at the time of each new moon. The two orbits, however, are inclined, and, as a result, eclipses occur only when the moon or the sun is within a few degrees of the two points, called the nodes, where the orbits intersect.

ESTIMATION OF ECLIPSES The next total eclipse will be visible from the U.S. in 2017.  During the 20th century 375 eclipses took place: 228 solar and 147 lunar. The last total eclipse of the sun visible in the United States occurred over the state of Hawaii on July 11, 1991. The prior such eclipse occurred over the state of Washington on February 26, 1979. The next total eclipse will be visible from the U.S. in 2017. 

OBSERVATION OF ECLIPSES

 Total

Solar Eclipse During a solar eclipse, the moon moves between the sun and the earth. The light from the outer part of the sun’s atmosphere, called the corona, became visible during a total solar eclipse on July 11, 1991, in La Paz, Baja California, Mexico. The moon’s shadow on earth appeared only as a thin band not more than 269 km (167 mi) wide.