1. Stretcher!!!
Lunar Eclipse
Solar Eclipse
Position of Earth and Moon?
When do these occur?
(day?, night?)
How many times a year do these occur?
Visibility: What gets blocked to create the eclipse?
How long do they last (minutes, hours?) Also, any health risks from looking at them?

2. Moon Orbit Around Earth
Total Solar Eclipse showing the corona and a few prominences off the limb (in red). When the moon blocks the light from the bright solar photosphere, we can see the much dimmer, more subtle evidence of the corona.
Moon Orbit Around Earth

3. Total Solar Eclipse showing the corona and a few prominences off the limb (in red). When the moon blocks the light from the bright solar photosphere, we can see the much dimmer, more subtle evidence of the corona.
Solar Eclipse

4. Partial Solar Eclipse

5. Annular Solar Eclipse

7. During a solar eclipse, the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, blocking out the sun as seen from Earth. A path of totality is formed where the moon blocks out the entire sun and observers can see a total eclipse. Outside the path of totality, only a partial eclipse can be viewed.

8. Solar Eclipse
When the Moon moves directly between the Earth and Sun… blocking the sunlight.
This graphic shows the path of totality for different solar eclipses through Notice there are two solar eclipses that cross the United States (2017 and 2024).

9. Conditions For Solar Eclipse
ONLY occur during a NEW MOON
ONLY occur during the daytime
Occur somewhere on Earth about 2 times a year
(Moon's orbit around Earth is tilted 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun… so exact alignment rare)
This graphic shows the path of totality for different solar eclipses through Notice there are two solar eclipses that cross the United States (2017 and 2024).

10. Shadow of the moon on the Earth as observed from the MIR space station.
Moon's shadow on Earth taken by French cosmonaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré aboard the Mir

11. The Moon's faint outer shadow.
The Moon’s Shadow
1. Penumbra
The Moon's faint outer shadow.
Partial solar eclipses are visible from within the penumbral shadow.
2. Umbra
The Moon's dark inner shadow.
Total solar eclipses are visible from within the umbral shadow.
This graphic shows the path of totality for different solar eclipses through Notice there are two solar eclipses that cross the United States (2017 and 2024).

12. Shadow of the moon on the Earth as observed from the MIR space station.
Moon's shadow on Earth taken by French cosmonaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré aboard the Mir

13. Solar Eclipse August 11, 1999 Soissons, France
…but the clouds parted just enough to catch these photos of the partial phase. During totality, the sky was overcast but you could tell totality had started because the light level dropped very quickly.

14. This graphic shows the path of totality for different solar eclipses through Notice there are two solar eclipses that cross the United States (2017 and 2024).

15. When’s The Next Solar Eclipse
A solar eclipse will occur in the U.S. is 2017 and again in 2024
This graphic shows the path of totality for different solar eclipses through Notice there are two solar eclipses that cross the United States (2017 and 2024).

16. Lunar eclipse.
Lunar Eclipse

17. In a lunar eclipse, the Earth moves between the sun and the moon and casts a shadow on the moon. Lunar eclipses can come in a variety of colors from deep black to rich shades of red. The red coloring comes from light from the sun that is filtered as it passes through the Earth’s atmosphere and is bent toward the moon. That light reflects off the surface of the moon and into our eyes on Earth. Lunar eclipses are only evident when the moon is passing through the Earth’s umbral shadow.

18. Lunar Eclipse
When the Earth moves directly between the Moon and Sun… blocking the sunlight from reaching the surface of the Moon.
This graphic shows the path of totality for different solar eclipses through Notice there are two solar eclipses that cross the United States (2017 and 2024).

19. Conditions For Lunar Eclipse
ONLY occur during a FULL MOON
ONLY occur at night
Occur somewhere on Earth about 2 times a year
(Moon's orbit around Earth is tilted 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun… so exact alignment rare)
This graphic shows the path of totality for different solar eclipses through Notice there are two solar eclipses that cross the United States (2017 and 2024).

20. Lunar Eclipses Partial Lunar Eclipse
A portion of the Moon passes through Earth's umbral shadow.
These events are easy to see, even with the unaided eye.
Total Lunar Eclipse
The entire Moon passes through Earth's umbral shadow.
These events are quite striking due to the Moon's vibrant red color during the total phase (totality).
This graphic shows the path of totality for different solar eclipses through Notice there are two solar eclipses that cross the United States (2017 and 2024).

21. Lunar Eclipses Partial Lunar Eclipse
A portion of the Moon passes through Earth's umbral shadow.
These events are easy to see, even with the unaided eye.
Total Lunar Eclipse
The entire Moon passes through Earth's umbral shadow.
These events are quite striking due to the Moon's vibrant red color during the total phase (totality).
This graphic shows the path of totality for different solar eclipses through Notice there are two solar eclipses that cross the United States (2017 and 2024).

22. Chinese astrologers wrote of an eclipse occurring over 4000 years ago.
Historians and astronomers believe that this was an eclipse that happened on 22 October 2134 B.C.
Two astrologers at the time, Hsi and Ho, had apparently failed to predict this eclipse, and were beheaded.
Eclipses had mystical origins for thousands of years. The Chinese believed the sun was being eaten by dragons. They could predict eclipses through careful observations of the sun and moon. Failure to predict an eclipse was often met with death.

23. Ancient Meaning
Solar eclipses have been generally explained in one of a few ways:
A celestial being, usually a monster, attempts to destroy the Sun
The Sun grows angry, sad, sick, or neglectful
Littmann and Willcox, “Totality”