Planets are constantly orbiting around in the space, that much is known to everyone. Now, when these planets align in such a manner that its shadow completely covers other planets, an eclipse takes place. To put it in Wikipedia’s language “An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily obscured, either by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer.” It is a temporary event; however, it has its own effects on Earth.
The Solar Eclipse:
When the moon passes from between the Earth and the Sun, a Solar eclipse takes place. When this alignment occurs, the moon blocks the light of the Sun from reaching the Earth. There are various types of Solar eclipses:
A partial Solar eclipse takes place when the moon obscures only a part of the Sun’s disk.
Annular Solar Eclipse takes place when the moon’s disk is not enough to cover the entire of the Sun. The eclipse takes place but the outer disk of the Sun is still visible from the Earth.
A Total Solar Eclipse takes place when the moon covers the Sun completely and it can happen only when the moon is at the point where the Moon’s orbit is closest to the Earth. This point is called Perigee.
The rarest is Hybrid Solar Eclipse. It only happens when the same eclipse changes from being Annular to a Total Solar Eclipse along the path.
The Lunar Eclipse:
When the New Moon passes through some portion of Earth’s shadow, a Lunar Eclipse takes place. The Earth blocks all light of the Sun from reaching the Moon, hence no light is reflected and the Moon becomes totally invisible to us. Since the Sun is the largest body in the alignment of an eclipse, the Earth causes three types of shadows. The outer shadow is known as the Penumbra. The inner shadow is called the Umbra. The area beyond the Umbra is called the Antumbra. Different types of Lunar Eclipses occur when the Moon falls in different regions, namely:
Penumbral Lunar eclipse: When the Moon passes through the Earth’s outer shadow, a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse takes place. It is chiefly academic and very hard to observe.
Partial Lunar Eclipse: When a portion of the Moon passes through the Earth’s umbral or inner shadow, a Partial Lunar Eclipse takes place. This phenomenon is easier to spot even from the naked eye.
Total Lunar Eclipse: When the entire Moon passes through Earth’s umbral shadow, a Total Lunar Eclipse takes place. The Moon generally turns red during this phenomenon.
Now that we have covered the basics of an eclipse, it would be appropriate to warn the reader that it is totally unadvisable to watch the Solar Eclipse with naked eyes because the UV rays of the Sun are too strong during this phenomenon and can cause serious damage to the eyes and even blindness.
