The eclipse occurs when a star (sun, moon or star) is no longer visible for a period of time because of the position of another celestial body. This means that eclipses occur when one star “gets in front” of another. Of course this will depend on the position the observer is in.
In the case of planet Earth, there are several types of eclipse, but the two best known are those in which the sun is hidden (solar eclipse) and when the moon is hidden (lunar eclipse).
solar eclipse
The solar eclipse happens when the moon is between the earth and the sun. Although the moon is much smaller than our star king, it is able to cover it in our field of vision because it is much closer to us than it is. . Thus, the apparent size of the moon, in some cases, is equal to or larger than that of the sun.
There are, in turn, three types of solar eclipse: the total , when the sun is completely overcast; the partial , when only a part is covered up; and the annulus , when the apparent size of the moon is not enough to completely cover the sun, forming a ring surrounded by the eclipse’s shadow (pictured above).
lunar eclipse
Already the lunar eclipse occurs when the shadow of the Earth “covers” the moon, making it dark and therefore invisible to us for a few minutes. This is because our planet is positioned exactly between the moon and the sun, causing our shadow to be cast over our natural satellite.
As in the previous case, there are three types of lunar eclipse: the total , with the moon completely overcast; the partial , where only a “piece” of it is struck by the shadow of the earth; and the penumbral , where the shadow of the earth is not dark enough to “dim” the moon’s glow, making it a little gray. The latter usually goes unnoticed by most people.Eclipses happen because the earth is always moving, as in a dance, in movements known as rotation (the planet revolving around itself) and translation (around the earth around the sun).
