Eclipse

When three celestial objects become aligned, an eclipse is said to occur. The many eclipse events known to astronomers are of two different types. In the first, the eclipsing body comes between an observer and the eclipsed object. The eclipsed object appears to the observer to be totally or partially covered by the eclipsing object. Eclipses of the second type affect only planets or natural satellites. In this case, the eclipsing body comes between the sun and the eclipsed object. The eclipsed object remains in view of the observer, but the sun's light no longer shines on any of it or part of it, and it becomes darkened by entering into the shadow of the eclipsing object. Examples of this kind of eclipse event are eclipses of the moon and eclipses of the satellites of Jupiter.

Solar and lunar eclipses have long been of interest because they are easily seen without a telescope and offer an impressive spectacle. Primitive peoples were struck with fear by the falling darkness during a total solar eclipse or by the strange sight of the eclipsed moon. Accounts of such eclipses are found among the oldest records of history

Solar Eclipses

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon, revolving in its orbit around the Earth, moves across the disk of the sun so that the moon's shadow sweeps over the face of the Earth. No sunlight penetrates the inner part of the shadow, or umbra. To observers on the Earth within the umbra, the disk of the sun appears completely covered by that of the moon. Such a solar eclipse is said to be total. Because the umbra is narrow at its intersection with the Earth, a total eclipse can be observed only within a very narrow area called the zone of totality. Because of the relative motion of the Earth and moon, the shadow moves rapidly over the Earth's surface. A total solar eclipse thus lasts only a short time—less than eight minutes at any one place on Earth. To observers located within the outer part of the moon's shadow, or penumbra, the disk of the moon appears to overlap the sun's disk in part. This event is called a partial solar eclipse.Because the Earth revolves around the sun in an elliptical orbit, the distance between Earth and sun changes slightly during the course of a year. Similarly, the apparent size of the lunar disk changes to some degree during a month because of the elliptical shape of the moon's orbit. If a solar eclipse occurs when the sun is closest to the Earth and the moon is farthest away, the moon does not completely cover the sun; the rim of the sun is visible around the edge, or limb, of the moon. This type of solar eclipse is known as an annular eclipse. Eclipses of the sun occur two to four times a year. In rare instances more may occur, as in 1935, when five solar eclipses took place.
Total solar eclipses have helped scientists obtain much knowledge about the nature of the sun's chromosphere and corona, the thin external layers of the sun that are usually lost in the brilliant glare from the shining solar surface, or photosphere. During a total solar eclipse the moon acts as a screen outside the Earth's atmosphere, cutting off the direct rays from the photosphere. The brilliance of the sky is decreased greatly, and the fainter parts of the sun become visible. Scientists no longer need to wait for eclipses to occur naturally in order to study the sun. They can use an instrument called a coronagraph to block the photosphere artificially, making it possible for them to conduct studies of the solar chromosphere and corona.

Lunar Eclipses

When the moon travels through the shadow of the Earth and loses its bright illumination by the sun, a lunar eclipse takes place. It can occur only at the time of the full moon—that is, when the moon is directly opposite the sun—because the Earth's shadow is directed away from the sun. A lunar eclipse can be seen from any place on the Earth where the moon is above the horizon. Such an eclipse can be total, partial, or penumbral, depending on the moon's position. If the moon passes through the center of the Earth's umbra, a total lunar eclipse occurs. Totality may extend up to 100 minutes, with the entire eclipse lasting about 3¹/₂ hours. A partial lunar eclipse is observable when only a part of the moon passes through the umbra. The penumbral type occurs when the moon moves only through the outer part of the shadow, dimming its own illumination only slightly. Lunar eclipses generally occur twice a year. In some years, however, there may be none or as many as three.

Other Types of Eclipses

From the Earth, the moon appears against a background of distant stars. As the moon moves eastward across the constellations, it occasionally passes in front of a star or a planet, causing an occultation. Accurately timed observations of occultations are used to study the orbital motion of the moon. Measurements of the time required for a star to disappear also provide information about the diameters of the stars.
The two planets Mercury and Venus, which are closer to the sun than is the Earth, occasionally pass between the Earth and the sun. At such a time either of these planets appears as a small, dark, circular disk projected on the brilliant disk of the sun, crossing it slowly as the planet makes a transit.
Eclipsing binaries are double-star systems consisting of two stellar bodies that revolve around one another. One star passes periodically in front of or behind the other as seen from the Earth, and two eclipses take place during each revolution. From the way in which the light from the binary system varies, it is possible to calculate the orbit and relative sizes of the two bodies

 

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