As we discussed in earlier blog posts, the Moon’s orbit is slightly tilted, preventing the Moon from blocking the Sun during every new Moon. The points where the Moon’s orbit intersects the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun are called nodes. The position of the nodes change over time, when the nodes are […]

You have probably seen multiple lunar eclipses in your life, so they seem to be a fairly common occurrence. Conversely, many people have never seen a solar eclipse, which makes them seem more rare. In reality, solar eclipses occur (on average) more than lunar eclipses. The maximum number of solar eclipses in a year is […]

There is something quite unique that you may actually be able to see on the ground during the total solar eclipse. Strange wavy lines of shadows may start to travel across solid colored surfaces. These eerie phenomenon are known as shadow bands. The effect occurs right before totality and right after. When the small sliver […]

The way that the Moon’s shadow moves across the Earth can be very different for each eclipse. The paths of totality can vary in shape and size quite drastically. The eclipse in August will have a path of totality with a width of 73 miles. The thickest possible path an eclipse can have is 166 […]

In our previous post we talked about the variations in the orbits of the Earth and Moon causing annular eclipses. These same variations effect the potential length of totality. There is a pretty large range for how long totality can last. The shortest totality will occur during the total solar eclipse of April 14, 2200 […]

Another type of solar eclipse is the Annular eclipse. These eclipses are sometimes called “Ring of Fire” eclipses. The word Annular comes from the word “annulus,” which means ring. Annular eclipses occur because of slight variations in the Moon’s orbit or the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. If the Moon is a little farther away […]

Partial eclipses are pretty self explanatory. The Sun is only partially covered up by the Moon. Some eclipses are completely partial. During these eclipses, the penumbra is the only part of the Moon’s shadow that hits the Earth. During total eclipses, a large area outside of the path of totality will see a partial eclipse. […]

Astronomers use the terms magnitude and obscuration to classify each solar eclipse. Magnitude is the percentage of the Sun’s diameter that is covered by the Moon. Obscuration is the maximum amount of the Sun’s surface area that is covered up by the Moon during the eclipse. During a total solar eclipse both of these values […]

Lunar eclipses occurs during a syzygy alignment where the Earth is between the Sun and Moon. The Earth blocks light from the Sun, casting a large shadow behind it and onto the Moon. As the Moon travels through the Earth’s shadow, it will darken and appear to go through its monthly phases in the span […]

How our Moon was formed is still up for heavy debate. One of the leading theories is the Giant-impact hypothesis. The theory follows that during our solar system’s early stages, a Mars sized object that astronomers call “Theia” collided with the Earth. This collision caused a large amount of rocky debris to form around the […]

The Moon is not a perfectly flat sphere. Instead, it is scarred with ancient meteor impacts, mountains, valleys, and canyons. When light from the Sun passes through these features, you might be able to observe an effect called Baily’s Beads, named after Francis Baily who first accurately described the phenomenon in 1836. Technically (and controversially), […]