In a beautiful display of celestial bodies, the Earth, sun, and Moon will align; therefore bathing our planet in the shadow of its moon. Eclipses have been monumental events throughout the course of human history; they could be seen as communications from the gods, omens of terrible things to come, or the foundations of myths. On April 8th, one such phenomenon will occur, and although we know that it won’t cause the world to end, eclipses are still cause for wonder and excitement.
An eclipse occurs when one celestial body casts a shadow on another. When the Earth is in between the moon and sun, it casts a shadow on the moon-a lunar eclipse. In contrast, when the moon rests between in earth and the sun and casts its shadow on us, it’s called a solar eclipse; this is the one that is set to happen soon. One then might ask why eclipses happen so rarely, if the moon rotates around the Earth every month, why then do we have an about eclipse every 18 months instead of 12 times a year? The moon lies on a different orbital axis than the sun and the Earth, meaning it tilts at a different angle than the other two, but sometimes they align, allowing for an eclipse to occur.
There are 4 possible types of solar eclipses: total, partial, annual, and hybrid. The total eclipse happens when everything is in line, the moon passes perfectly in front of the sun, and blocks everything save for the sun’s corona- its outer atmosphere. This is the type of eclipse happening on the 8th. Partial eclipses allow more of the sun to be seen. Due to the moon not being in full alignment, the sun will appear as a crescent. The annual eclipse is a total eclipse that occurs when the moon is at its farthest from the earth. Due to its orbital path not being a perfect circle, the moon can appear smaller at times, and much more of the sun can be seen around shrunken moon. The hybrid eclipse is not as cool as it sounds. Sometimes an eclipse can shift between a total and annual, which results in a total eclipse.
This phenomenon is truly beautiful, and something to marvel. Space is full of wonders and mysteries that we continue to discover each and every day.
