How often do solar eclipses happen? Solar eclipse - what is it and how does it happen

What is a Solar Eclipse?

A solar eclipse is a natural phenomenon that occurs on Earth when the Moon moves in its orbit between the Earth and the Sun. This happens at the new moon when the sun and moon are in conjunction with each other. If the Moon were only slightly closer to the earth, and its orbit was in the same plane and circular, then we would see eclipses every month. The Moon's orbit is elliptical and tilted with respect to the Earth's orbit, so we can only see up to 5 eclipses a year. Depending on the geometry of the Sun, Moon, and Earth, the Sun may be completely blocked (obscured), or it may be partially blocked.

During an eclipse, the Moon's shadow (which is divided into two parts: dark umbra and light penumbra) moves across the earth's surface. Safety note: Never look directly at the sun during a total solar eclipse. The bright light of the sun can damage your eyes very quickly.

Types of Solar Eclipse

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE

A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon completely covers the solar disk. During a total solar eclipse, the narrowest part of the path where the sun is completely blocked and the moon casts its dark shadow (called a total shadow) is called the “zone of totality”.

Observers see this path as an obscured sun (often described as a "hole in the sky"), with a ghostly glow from the solar corona, heading into space. A phenomenon called "Bailey's beads" often appears when sunlight breaks through valleys on the Moon's surface. If the sun is active, observers may also see solar prominences, loops, and flares during an eclipse. A total solar eclipse is the only time it is safe to look directly at the sun. All other solar observations (even in partial phases) require special solar filters to avoid damaging your eyes.

A total solar eclipse is not always visible from Earth. In the past, the Moon was too close to the earth and during an eclipse, it completely obscured the disk of the Sun. Over time, the lunar orbit has changed in size by just over 2 cm per year, and in the current epoch, the alignment is almost perfect. However, the Moon's orbit will continue to expand, and perhaps in 600 million years, total solar eclipses will no longer occur. Instead, future observers will only see partial and annular eclipses.

ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE

When the Moon is farther in its orbit than usual, it cannot completely cover the disk of the Sun. During such an event, a bright ring of sunlight shines around the moon. This type of eclipse is called an annular eclipse. It comes from the Latin word “annulus”, which means “ring”.

The "ring" period during such an eclipse can last from 5 or 6 minutes to 12 minutes. However, although the Sun is mostly covered by the Moon, if the sunlight is bright enough, an annular glow occurs during which observers will never be able to look directly at the Sun. This event requires eye protection throughout the eclipse.

PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE

A partial solar eclipse occurs when the Earth moves through the lunar penumbra just as the moon moves between the Earth and the sun. The moon does not block the entire solar disk, as seen from Earth. Depending on your location during a partial eclipse, you can see anything from a small glimpse of the Sun to a nearly total eclipse.

It is safe to use a filter to view any eclipse, or use an indirect viewing method such as projecting rays through a telescope onto a white piece of paper or cardboard. Never look at the sun through a telescope unless it has an appropriate filter. Blindness and severe eye damage can be caused by improper observation technique.

Solar Eclipse Facts Depending on the geometry of the Sun, Moon, and Earth, there can be 2 to 5 solar eclipses per year. An aggregate occurs when the Moon completely occludes the sun, so that only the solar corona is visible. A total solar eclipse can occur once every 1- 2 years. This makes them very rare events. If you lived at the North or South Pole, you would only see a partial solar eclipse. Partial, total, annular and hybrid eclipses can be seen by people in other parts of the world. The longest total solar eclipse can last 7.5 minutes. The eclipse's path is typically about 160 km wide in diameter and can cast a shadow over an area of ​​the earth's surface of about 10,000 miles in length. Almost identical eclipses occur after 18 years and 11 days. This period of 223 synodic months is called saros. During a total solar eclipse, the air temperature can change rapidly, it immediately becomes colder and it becomes dark in the immediate vicinity. At the moment of a total solar eclipse, the planets in the sky can be seen as points of light.

An eclipse is usually called an astronomical situation, during which one celestial body completely blocks the light of another celestial body. The most famous are eclipses of the Moon and the Sun. Eclipses are considered interesting natural phenomena familiar to mankind since ancient times. They occur relatively often, but are not visible from every point of the earth. For this reason, eclipses seem to be a rare factor to many. As everyone knows, the planets and their satellites do not stand in one place. The earth revolves around the sun, and the moon revolves around the earth. Periodically, there are moments when the Moon fully or partially covers the Sun. So why do solar and lunar eclipses occur?

Moon eclipse

During its full phase, the moon appears copper-red, especially as it approaches the center of the shadow region. This shade is due to the fact that the rays of the sun, tangent to the surface of the earth, passing through the atmosphere, are scattered and fall into the shadow of the Earth through a thick layer of air. This is best achieved with rays of red and orange hues. Therefore, only they color the lunar disk in such a color, based on the state of the earth's atmosphere.

solar eclipse

A solar eclipse is a lunar shadow on the surface of the Earth. The diameter of the shadow spot is about two hundred kilometers, which is several times smaller than the earth. For this reason, the eclipse of the sun can only be seen in a narrow strip in the path of the moon's shadow. An eclipse of the Sun occurs when the Moon falls between the observer and the Sun, blocking it in the process.

Since the Moon on the eve of the eclipse is turned to us by the side that does not fall on the light, then on the eve of the eclipse of the Sun there is always a new moon. Simply put, the moon becomes invisible. There is an impression that the Sun is covered by a black disk.

Why do solar and lunar eclipses happen?

The phenomena of solar and lunar eclipses are well observed through. Observers have been able to achieve great achievements by confirming the effect of the gravity of large objects in space on light rays.

I was asked the question: how often do eclipses occur, how often do solar and lunar eclipses occur?

Indeed, in different years we observe a different number of eclipses. Moreover, all of them are also different, depending on how much the disks of the planets overlap each other with a shadow. For example, an annular solar eclipse occurs at the moment when it is farthest from our planet, and is not completely covered by the disk of the Moon.

And last autumn we observed a hybrid solar eclipse, a rather rare phenomenon when the phases of the same eclipse are visible to us from different points of the Earth as a total eclipse and an annular eclipse. An interesting fact here is that it is gradually moving away from the Earth by 3.78 centimeters per year, and the time will come when earthlings will no longer see a total eclipse, but will observe only an annular one. But this, however, will not be very soon.

Let us return to the question of the frequency of eclipses.

It is known that their number in a year is not the same. Solar eclipses occur on the new moon, if it is no further than 12 degrees from the points of intersection of the Moon with the ecliptic, there are from 2 to 5 solar eclipses per year.

If we take the count of eclipses for a hundred years, then out of 237 solar eclipses, the most are partial: namely, 160. In the remaining 77: total - 63 and annular - 14.

A lunar eclipse happens on a full moon - when the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun, there are no less than two lunar eclipses a year.

The “fruitful” year for eclipses in the near future was the year 2011, when 4 solar and 2 lunar eclipses occurred, and ahead is 2029, when there will be 4 solar and 3 lunar eclipses. There were 5 solar eclipses (and 2 lunar ones) in 1935. That is, the maximum number of eclipses in a year is 7.

Solar eclipses in a certain area of ​​​​the Earth are a very rare occurrence, and if you manage to see one or two eclipses in your life, consider yourself very lucky.

However, eclipses are far from being limited to just a spectacular function, as many of us tend to perceive them. Their main and paramount role is the need to change the consciousness of a person, no matter where he is on the edge of the Earth during the eclipse. The process of changing consciousness undergoes literally every one of us, and it lasts from several days to several years.

As astrology shows, the degree of influence of the eclipse may depend on how much the resonance with the natal chart of a person is manifested for the period of the eclipse. The characteristic of an eclipse originates from the specific saros series to which it belongs, and the resonant horoscope shows the area of ​​life that is primarily affected by the eclipse.

I will add that eclipses play a deep karmic role, forcing a person to react to his external environment during a solar eclipse and to internal qualities during a lunar eclipse.

You have learned how often eclipses occur, although not everyone knows the astrological indicators for these events. In addition, almost each of us can approach the solution of any problematic issue in our lives, while showing our best qualities. The only difference is that eclipses give tremendous energy for our development, forcing us to immediately respond to what is happening.

Be healthy and happy! See you on the site ""!

Undoubtedly, everyone knows about such a phenomenon as solar eclipse. However, few people know the nature of this phenomenon and can explain what exactly happens during a solar eclipse.

The first such phenomenon happened in the distant past. This put people in a state of panic. They did not understand what was happening and it led them to wild horror. As a rule, people believed that some evil monster was trying to destroy the sun and that it must be protected. Since the solar eclipse is a very short phenomenon, the people's plan always worked, and they successfully expelled the terrible monster and returned bright sunlight and warmth to themselves. After that, you could safely return to your home.

It is known that the first described solar eclipse happened during the reign of the fourth emperor of the Hen dynasty, Chung-Kang. This event is recorded in the great book of China, the Book of History. Only in the nineteenth century was it possible to establish the date of this eclipse. It happened on October 22, 2137 BC.

As early as the beginning of the sixth century BC. astronomers have found the true cause of a solar eclipse. They noticed that the Moon disappeared along with the Sun. This led them to the idea that the Moon simply covers the Sun from the point of view of an earthly observer. It only happens on the new moon.

But at the same time, an eclipse does not occur every time a satellite passes between our planet and a heavenly body, but only when the orbits of the Sun and the Moon intersect. Otherwise, the satellite simply passes at a distance (below or above) the Sun.

In simple terms, a solar eclipse is simply the shadow of the moon on the surface of the globe. The diameter of this shadow is about 200 kilometers. Since this distance is much less than the diameter of the Earth, a solar eclipse becomes available only to those who are in the zone of this shadow. In this case, the observer can observe a total solar eclipse. Those people who are close to the shadow zone can only observe a partial solar eclipse. It is observed by people located about 2000 km from the zone of total solar eclipse.

The shadow cast by the Moon towards the globe is in the form of a sharply converging cone. The top of this cone is located behind the Earth, so not just a dot, but a small black spot falls on the very surface of the planet. It moves along the surface of the Earth at a speed of about 1 km per second. Accordingly, at one point the Moon cannot close the Sun for a long time. Therefore, the maximum duration of a total eclipse phase is 7.5 minutes. The duration of a partial eclipse is about 2 hours.

A solar eclipse is a unique phenomenon. It occurs due to the fact that for an earthly observer, the diameters of the lunar and solar disks are almost equal, despite the fact that the diameter of the Sun is 400 times larger than the diameter of the Moon. This is due to the distance from our planet to the moon and to the heavenly body. The latter is about 390 times larger than the former.

In addition, the Moon's orbit is elliptical. Due to this, at the moments of the onset of solar eclipses, the satellite can be at different distances from the Earth, and therefore, be of different sizes from the point of view of an earthly observer. At this time, the lunar disk can be equal to the solar disk, and can also be larger or smaller than it. In the first case, a short-term solar eclipse occurs, which lasts only a few seconds. In the second case, the total eclipse lasts a little longer. In the third case, the solar crown remains around the dark disk of the moon. This is perhaps the most beautiful version of a solar eclipse. It is the longest of all three options. This solar eclipse is called annular and accounts for approximately 60% of all solar eclipses.

At least 2 times a year (and no more than 5) the shadow from the satellite falls on our planet. Over the past hundred years, scientists have counted approximately 238 solar eclipses. None of the planets currently represented in the solar system can witness such a spectacle.

A total solar eclipse is a great opportunity for astronomers to see the solar crown. At first it was believed that the crown belongs to the Moon, and only in the 19th century astronomers put everything in its place.

Eclipse and legends

Despite the fact that the mystery of the solar eclipse was solved a long time ago, this event still amazes the human mind. Therefore, to this day, during an eclipse in different parts of the Earth, people beat drums, burn bonfires, or tightly close themselves in their homes. Often this astronomical phenomenon is blamed for wars, epidemics, famines, floods, and even turmoil in personal life.

The Koreans in their myths described how the king of the Land of Darkness sent fiery dogs to the Sun. The Japanese sincerely believed that the Sun leaves the sky due to some kind of resentment, and the Moon dies from an unprecedented disease. The Peruvians even tortured their dogs so that their howl would help the companion to heal.

The Chinese, with the help of drums and arrows, drove away the dragon from the Sun, which was trying to eat the heavenly body, and the Africans beat the tom-toms so that the snake that got out of the ocean could not overtake the Sun and swallow it.

The Indian tribes believed that the Sun and Moon borrowed from a demon named Danko. Therefore, during the eclipse, they took utensils, rice and weapons out of the house. Danko accepted these generous donations and released the prisoners.

In Tahiti, the solar eclipse is considered the most romantic event, which symbolizes the act of love between the Sun and the Moon. Therefore, they are looking forward to this event. But the Thais buy mascots, preferably black.

India is the richest country in superstition. The legend here says that a demon named Rahu drank the elixir of immortality, about which the Sun and Moon told the Gods. For this, Rahu was executed, but his severed head remained immortal and now she swallows the Moon or the Sun from time to time as revenge.

In addition, during a solar eclipse in India, it is forbidden to eat and drink, but it is necessary to pray. The best way to do this is to stand up to your neck in water. It is believed that if a pregnant Indian woman leaves her home during an eclipse, her child will be born blind or will have a cleft lip. And food that was not eaten before the eclipse began must be thrown away, as it is considered defiled.

Do you know that…

1) The speed at which the Earth revolves around the Sun prevents a solar eclipse from lasting longer than 7 minutes 58 seconds. For 1000 years there are about 10 total eclipses, which last 7 minutes or more.

2) On June 30, 1973, the last long eclipse happened. At this time, the passengers of one plane had the good fortune to observe it for as long as 74 minutes due to the speed of the vehicle.

3) If you divide the entire globe into sections of a certain size, then the inhabitants of each of them will be able to observe a total eclipse approximately once every 370 years.

5) Every eclipse is different. The solar crown always looks a little different. It depends on the period of solar activity.

6) If you are lucky enough to observe a total solar eclipse, then on the horizon, against the background of a dark purple sky, you can observe a bright red-orange stripe. This is the so-called glowing ring.

7) The next solar eclipse will take place on November 3, 2013. It will be visible in the Atlantic Ocean and Africa.s

8) May 28, 585 BC A solar eclipse ended the five-year war between the Medes and the Lydians.

9) The Tale of Igor's Campaign describes the most significant solar eclipse in Russian history.

How to properly observe a solar eclipse?

It's best not to try to look at the sun's disk with the naked eye or with regular sunglasses. Glasses must be special, otherwise you may lose your sight. Despite the advances of modern times, smoked glass or overexposed photographic film is still perfect.

Eye damage can happen even when you look at the Sun's thin crescent. Only 1% of the star shines 10 thousand times brighter than the moon. If you closely observe the Sun, then something like a magnifying glass is created, which transmits sunlight to the retina of the eye. The retina is very fragile and cannot be repaired, so never watch a solar eclipse without some kind of special protection.

If you are watching a total eclipse and the sun is completely hidden, you can look at this unforgettable spectacle with complete peace of mind without using any special filters.

Observation of the partial phases of an eclipse requires a special technique. One of the safest ways to observe the Sun is to use a "camera obscura". It makes it possible to observe the projected image of the Sun. Making a mobile camera obscura is quite simple. To do this, you need two thick pieces of cardboard. In one of them it is necessary to cut a hole, the second sheet will serve as a screen on which an inverted image of the Sun will be formed. In order to enlarge the image, you just need to move the screen a little further.

The second way to observe the Sun is to use filters. In this case, you will look directly at the Sun. The minimum amount of light passes through these filters.

One of these filters is made from aluminized polyester. However, the material can be of different densities, so it is very important to inspect the filter for holes through which eye-damaging rays can penetrate the filter.

Another type of filter is made of black polymer. Observation of the Sun through such a filter is more comfortable for the eyes. However, it is worth remembering that no filter is one hundred percent protection if the optical density does not exceed 5.0.

There are also special filters for telescopes and cameras. However, they are not always safe, as they can melt under the influence of temperature and harm the eyes. Many people prefer to observe a solar eclipse with a telescope. This allows you to see the entire process of this phenomenon as accurately as possible. During the total phase of the eclipse, the filter can be removed.

As you know, on August 11, 2018, a partial (partial) solar eclipse will occur - and many in the light of this event should be interested - but what is the essence of a solar eclipse, why does it occur?

Why does a solar eclipse happen

As you know, the planets and their satellites do not stand still. The earth revolves around the sun and the moon revolves around the earth. And from time to time there are such moments when the Moon in its movement completely or partially obscures the Sun.

Picture 1. Diagram of a solar eclipse Solar eclipse is the shadow of the moon on the surface of the earth. This shadow is about 200 km in diameter, which is many times smaller than the diameter of the Earth. Therefore, a solar eclipse can be observed simultaneously only in a narrow band along the path of the moon's shadow:

Lunar shadow on the Earth's surface during a solar eclipse If the observer is in the shadow strip, he sees total solar eclipse, in which the moon completely hides the sun. At the same time, the sky darkens, and stars can become visible on it. It's getting a little cooler. The birds abruptly fall silent, frightened by the sudden darkness, and try to hide. Animals start to get restless. Some plants fold their leaves.

Phase of a total solar eclipse Observers near the total eclipse can see partial solar eclipse . During a partial eclipse, the Moon passes across the disk of the Sun not exactly in the center, but hides only part of this disk. In this case, the sky darkens much weaker than during a total eclipse, the stars are not visible on it. A partial eclipse can be observed at a distance of about 2 thousand kilometers from the zone of total eclipse.

Partial solar eclipse A solar eclipse always happens on a new moon. At this time, the Moon is not visible on Earth, because the side of the Moon that faces the Earth is not illuminated by the Sun (see Figure 1). Because of this, it seems that during an eclipse, the Sun closes a black spot, taken from nowhere.

The shadow that the Moon casts towards the Earth looks like a converging cone. The tip of this cone is located a little further than our planet (see Figures 1 and 2). Therefore, when the shadow hits the surface of the Earth, it is not a point, but a relatively small (150–270 km across) black spot. Following the Moon, this spot moves across the surface of our planet at a speed of about 1 kilometer per second:

Scheme of the solar eclipse of August 11, 2018 from the NASA website Consequently, the shadow of the Moon moves with great speed over the earth's surface and cannot permanently close any one place on the globe. The maximum possible duration of the full phase is only 7.5 minutes. A partial eclipse lasts about two hours.

Solar eclipses on Earth are a truly unique phenomenon. It is possible because on the celestial sphere the diameters of the Moon and the Sun almost coincide, despite the fact that the diameter of the Sun is almost 400 times the diameter of the Moon. And this happens because the Sun is about 400 times farther from the Earth than the Moon.

But the Moon's orbit is not round, but elliptical. Therefore, at times favorable for the onset of eclipses, the lunar disk can be larger than the solar disk, equal to it or less than it. The first is a total eclipse. In the second case, a total eclipse also occurs, but it lasts only a moment. And in the third case, an annular eclipse occurs: around the dark disk of the Moon, a shining ring of the Sun's surface is visible. Such an eclipse can last up to 12 minutes.

How will the partial solar eclipse occur on 08/11/2018

On August 11, 2018, there will be a new moon and a partial eclipse of the Sun (max phase 0.74) with visibility in the north and east of Russia. The region of its best visibility falls in the subpolar latitudes of the northern hemisphere.

At 11:40 Moscow time, the penumbra of the moon will enter the territory of Russia, moving from the Murmansk region to the southeast. Most of the territory of our country will fall into the eclipse visibility area, except for the southwestern regions, where the Moon will pass the Sun in the sky, and the Chukotka and Kamchatka peninsulas, where the Sun will have time to set below the horizon.

The eclipse reaches its maximum at the point with coordinates 70.4° north latitude, 174.5° east longitude. The maximum phase of the eclipse on Earth equal to 0.74 will occur at 12:46 Moscow time at sunset near Wrangel Island, as well as on Chukotka (0.736). But even with such a sufficiently large phase, no darkening of the sky will be visible.

At the time of the eclipse, the Sun will be in the constellation Leo.

This is the third partial eclipse of the Sun in 2018. 2018 gave us three eclipses of the Sun - February 15, July 13 and August 11. All solar eclipses are partial. These partial eclipses of the Sun were observed only in the subpolar regions of the southern (15.02 and 13.07) and northern (11.08) hemispheres of the Earth.

Solar eclipses only occur when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun (new moon phase). There can be from two to five solar eclipses during the year.

An eclipse of the Sun in which only the lunar penumbra crosses the earth's surface (the shadow cone and its extension do not cross the earth's surface) is called private.

The axis of the lunar shadow on August 11, 2018 passes near the north pole, without crossing the surface of the Earth, the minimum distance from the center of the Earth to the axis of the cone of the lunar shadow is 7319 kilometers.

What is a total solar eclipse

During a total solar eclipse, you can observe the solar corona - the outer layers of the Sun's atmosphere. The Earth, like other planets, is inside the corona. It consists of a rarefied gas having a temperature of about a million degrees.

Here in this picture it is very clearly visible at what moment the crown is noticeable to us. The photographer superimposed successive photographs on top of each other: with each frame, the Moon blocks the solar disk more and more, until it is completely hidden behind the silhouette of the Moon. At this moment (and it lasted only about two minutes), the solar corona is visible around the Moon:

2-3 seconds before the onset of a total eclipse, when the Moon has almost completely covered the Sun, bright ruby ​​dots appear on the left solar edge, separated by dark gaps - these are Bailey's beads. This happens because the solar disk still peeps between the lunar mountains or lunar craters, which at that time turned out to be on the edge of the lunar disk.

Also, during the eclipse, you can observe red or orange protrusions-flashes - these are prominences.

(photo by Alan Friedman)

And when the total phase of the eclipse comes to an end (or a second before the start), the sunlight that appears from behind the edge of the lunar disk creates a short-term effect of a diamond ring in the sky.

Interestingly, the earliest realistic depiction of a diamond ring, a crown, and a solar eclipse in general was made in 1735 by a German artist named Cosmas Damian Azam.