Eclipse

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An eclipse occurs when one astronomical body moves into the shadow of another body or blocks an observer's view of it. The best-known examples are solar eclipses, in which the Moon obscures the Sun, and lunar eclipses, in which the Moon passes through Earth's shadow.

A solar eclipse occurs at new moon when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are closely aligned near a lunar node. It may be total, annular, partial, or hybrid depending on the apparent sizes and alignment of the Sun and Moon.

A lunar eclipse occurs at full moon when Earth lies between the Sun and Moon. It may be penumbral, partial, or total depending on how deeply the Moon enters Earth's shadow.

Eclipses do not occur every month because the Moon's orbit is tilted by about five degrees to Earth's orbital plane. They repeat in families governed by cycles such as the Saros.

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• Source / publisher: Wikipedia
• URL type: WWW
• Credits: Wikipedia
• URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse