Eclipses

Is there more than one type of eclipse?

Turn to someone and talk about what types of eclipses there are.

Eclipses

Solar Eclipse—the moon moves in a line directly between the Earth and sun

Lunar Eclipse---the moon moves into the Earth’s shadow

Eclipses A solar eclipse can only happen at new

Moon, when the lunar disk passes directly between us and the Sun.

A lunar eclipse occurs during full Moon, when our satellite passes through Earth's shadow.

These alignments don't occur at every new and full Moon because the lunar orbit is tipped about 5° to Earth's orbital plane — only occasionally do the Sun, Earth, and Moon line up exactly enough for an eclipse to occur.

http://sunearthday.gsfc.nasa.gov/2008eclipse/mechanics.php

Solar Eclipses

November 13, 2012

Total solar eclipse only visible in Australia

November 3, 2012

Solar eclipse visible from Florida to Africa

Next visible total eclipse of the sun August 21, 2017!!!! Mark it down Kentucky is best place to see it.

Annular EclipsesWhen the moon

is too far from the earth (in its rotation around the earth) that it does not completely cover the sun.

Annular Solar Eclipse

May 13, Southern Hemisphere

Lunar Eclipses

Prenumbral lunar eclipse November 28 Not visible in the US

Visible in US—May 25, 2013

Total Lunar eclipse

Next visible here total lunar eclipse is: April 15, 2014

So why doesn’t isn’t their a lunar eclipse every month????

You got it—talk to your neighbor….

The moon orbits the earth at a tilt to the earth’s rotation of the sun

Lunar Eclipses

Why is the Moon Red During a Total Lunar Eclipse?During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks the Sun's light from reaching the Moon. Astronauts on the Moon would then see the Earth completely eclipse the Sun. (They would see a bright red ring around the Earth as they watched all the sunrises and sunsets happening simultaneously around the world!) While the Moon remains completely within Earth's umbral shadow, indirect (Earthlight) sunlight still manages to reach and illuminate it. However, this sunlight must first pass deep through the Earth's atmosphere which filters out most of the blue colored light. The remaining light is a deep red or orange in color and is much dimmer than pure white sunlight. Earth's atmosphere also bends or refracts some of this light so that a small fraction of it can reach and illuminate the Moon.