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| By Luc Viatour, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60793 |
Many scientific discoveries were done with the use of eclipses.
Solar eclipses can be viewed by using eclipse or solar-viewing glasses. This reduced the amount of light from the sun that reaches your eyes, preventing them from being damaged.
Eclipses only occur when the orbit of the moon crosses a straight line between the sun and earth.
Orbital positions and solar eclipses
Four types of solar eclipses exist - a total eclipse, an annular eclipse, a hybrid eclipse, and a partial eclipse. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon is further away in its orbit (near the apogee), while a total eclipse occurs when the moon is nearer to its perigee. It completely blocks the sun. The moon's umbra is smaller than its penumbra and so totality can only be seen on a small part of the surface.
A partial eclipse occurs when the moon's orbit does not pass directly over the earth relative to the sun. It is off-centred and only part of the sun is obscured.
Hybrid eclipses are rare. Depending on where they are observed, they could be seen as a total eclipse, and in other areas as an annular eclipse.
Lunar eclipse
Lunar eclipses occur when the earth passes between the moon and the sun. This casts the earth's shadow on the moon, darkening it. Partial lunar eclipses occur when the moon does not fully pass behind the earth's shadow. Full lunar eclipses occur when the earth's umbral shadow is cast onto the moon. Some sunlight passes through the earth's atmosphere and gets refracted and scattered and gets refocused on the moon, giving it a dim glow.
Reflection
I leant that there are hybrid eclipses and that eclipses could be used to test or prove scientific theories. The lesson today was interesting, and it could be improved by making the slides less dense.
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