![]() In some ancient and modern cultures, solar eclipses were attributed to supernatural causes or regarded as bad omens. Total solar eclipses occur rarely at a given place on Earth, on average about every 360 to 410 years.Īn eclipse is a natural phenomenon. Total eclipses are more rare because they require a more precise alignment between the centers of the Sun and Moon, and because the Moon's apparent size in the sky is sometimes too small to fully cover the Sun. ![]() Solar (and lunar) eclipses therefore happen only during eclipse seasons, resulting in at least two, and up to five, solar eclipses each year, no more than two of which can be total. Instead, because the Moon's orbit is tilted at about 5 degrees to Earth's orbit, its shadow usually misses Earth. If the Moon were in a perfectly circular orbit and in the same orbital plane as Earth, there would be total solar eclipses every new moon. In partial and annular eclipses, only part of the Sun is obscured. In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. ![]() Such an alignment coincides with a new moon, indicating the Moon is closest to the plane of the Earth's orbit. During a partial solar eclipse (right), the Moon blocks only part of the Sun's disk ( October 23, 2014).Ī solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring Earth's view of the Sun, totally or partially. ![]() An annular solar eclipse (left) occurs when the Moon is too far away to completely cover the Sun's disk ( May 20, 2012).
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