An eclipse occurs when one heavenly body passes in front of another, blocking its light. There are two types of eclipses on Earth: solar and lunar. A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the earth and sun, casting its shadow on earth. A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth passes between the sun and moon, casting its shadow on the moon. Eclipses can be partial or total depending on how much of the sun or moon is blocked.

1. ECLIPSES

2. In this lesson you will learn more about
eclipses. An eclipse takes place when one
heavenly body such as a moon or planet
moves into the shadow of another
heavenly body. There are two types of
eclipses on Earth: an eclipse of the moon
and an eclipse of the sun.

4. Answer the following questions: Write
your answer on another sheet of paper.
1. What causes a shadow to
appear?_________________________________.
2. Are shadows present in space? Yes
or No; Why? ___________.

5. Shadows are made by blocking light.
Light rays travel from a source in
straight lines. If an opaque (solid)
object gets in the way, it stops light
rays from traveling through it. This
results in an area of darkness
appearing behind the object. This
causes eclipse.

6. There are two types of eclipses:
1. Solar eclipse occurs when the moon
passes directly between the sun and the
earth. The moon blocks the light rays and
casts a shadow on Earth.
2. Lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, the
earth and the moon are in a straight line.
The earth casts a shadow on the surface of
the moon.

7. A solar eclipse is called total solar eclipse if
the Sun appears totally dark ,and If only part of
the Sun appears dark, it is called partial eclipse.
During a solar eclipse some people on Earth will
see a total eclipse, in another area they will see
a partial eclipse. From some area, they will not
notice any difference in the appearance of the
Sun. Only the people within the small area
covered by the center of the Moon’s shadow
will see a total eclipse.

8. During an eclipse, two shadows are cast, the umbra
and penumbra. The umbra is the dark center
portion of a shadow. The umbra is the portion of
the Moon's shadow where the Moon completely
covers the sun. Moon's umbra causes total solar
eclipses. Penumbra is the lighter outer part of the
shadow. This causes partial eclipse.Solar eclipse
occurs on a new moon phase of the month, this is
because the moon’s orbit is tilted and does not
always fall in a straight line with the earth and the
sun.

9. A total solar eclipse can last for several
hours and totality can range from a
few seconds to 7.5 minutes. The
longest total solar eclipse of the 21st
century took place on July 22, 2009,
when totality lasted 6 minutes and 39
seconds!

10. During lunar eclipse, the Moon is in the Earth’s shadow
but the Moon does not appear completely dark. It glows a
dim orange or red color. This happens because some light
reaches the Moon indirectly. This light bounces off the
gases that surrounds the Earth and then hits the Moon.
Lunar eclipse occurs on a full moon but not at every full
moon phase of the month. A partial lunar eclipse occurs
when only a portion of the Moon enters Earth's umbra,
while a total lunar eclipse occurs when the entire Moon
enters the planet's umbra.

11. Answer the Learning
Tasks