Eclipse is the condition in which the three heavenly bodies align in a straight line and cast their shadow and cause an eclipse.
We can say an eclipse will happen when a celestial body like a planet or moon gets in the way of the sun’s light(as the sun‘s light is directly coming to the planet or we can say travelling in a straight line.)
Types of eclipses:
There are two types of eclipses
1.Solar Eclipse
2.Lunar eclipse
Solar Eclipse
It formed when the moon comes in the way of sunlight or we can say comes in between Sun and the earth and casts its shadow on Earth. Moon creates its dark shadow due to which during day time we experience dark. As we know there is lots of difference in size of these three heavenly bodies so the Moon can’t hide Earth in its shadow completely. It occurs during day time. There are different conditions of solar eclipse:
Total Solar Eclipse
When Moon completely cover the Earth in its shadow (It is a rare condition)
A total solar eclipse was visible over the continental United States on August 21,2017. Total Solar eclipse occurs on full moon day.
Partial Solar Eclipse
Partial solar eclipse occurs when the moon partially hides the Earth by casting its shadow on Earth.
Annular Solar Eclipse
It occurs when a new moon covers the sun center in such a way that the outer edges are visible and look like a ring of fire or annulus.
Solar eclipses are not observed all over the Earth at the same time .It can be seen in different parts of the world at different time. It may be possible that on the day of the Solar eclipse you are not seeing Eclipse in your area.
It is a magnificent celestial event which one should see in their lifetime. Every year there are at least two solar eclipses on earth. But one should be very careful while watching solar eclipse. There are certain precautions which we need to take during the time of eclipse because at the time of eclipse direct sun rays are coming on to the Earth which can cause serious problems in living beings.
Precautions to be taken during Solar Eclipse:
- Do not look directly to the sun as harmful radiation coming from the sun can affect your eyes.
- Do not use ordinary glasses or film or filter to see the solar eclipse.
- Use filters which are meant to see such celestial events.
- It is not advisable to see a solar eclipse with the help of binoculars ,X -ray film or Telescope because it can concentrate the sun rays at one point and can cause serious injury to our eyes.
- Do not try to see the reflection of the sun during the eclipse in water or any kind of mirror. You can try pinhole camera technique to see the eclipse.
Lunar Eclipse
It occur when Earth cast its shadow on moon and blocked the sun light to reach on to the moon. This condition occur when Earth comes in between the Sun and the moon. As it said above that due to the difference in size of the three celestial bodies there are different phases or we can say types of eclipses.
There are two types of Lunar eclipses:
1.Partial Lunar Eclipse
2.Total lunar Eclipse
Partial lunar eclipses
It occur when some part of the moon is hidden by the Earth and due to which that part of the moon is not visible to us.
Total Lunar Eclipse
In the condition when the moon is completely in the dark shadow of the earth. It occurs mainly on Full Moon Day.
Do you know the total Lunar eclipse is also called Blood Moon or Super Moon. Why is it called so??
It is called so because at the time of total Lunar eclipse Earth comes in between the The Sun and the moon and because of its big size as compare to the moon .It create obstruction to Sunlight to reach on to the moon .But still as Sun is bigger in size than Earth some sun light reach to the moon from the sides of the Earth due to the atmosphere the lower wavelength get filter out and only red or orange wavelength reach on to the moon and make it look red or orange or we can say Rusty. This moon is called Blood Moon.
In the year 2021 the first Lunar Eclipse of the year will take place on May 26 .It will be a Total Lunar eclipse as the full moon will pass through the shadow of the Earth .People can witness the Blood Moon on 26 May.
It can be seen in different parts of the world like in Australia ,Parts of Western United States or In South -East Asia. Total lunar eclipses have a very short time span. The moon sweeps away from the shadow of the moon due to its motion.
So don’t miss the event.
