Short Definition
A
solar eclipse is a natural phenomenon that occurs when the new moon is
positioned between the Sun and Earth. A solar eclipse is visible when the Moon’s
surface covers the Sun fully or partially casts a shadow on Earth.
Detailed
Definition
A
solar eclipse is a natural process during which the Sun is completely
or partially obscured by the Moon's surface, creating a shadow over
Earth. However, this shadow is not large enough to be visible from
all parts of the world in the same way. For this reason, each
successive solar eclipse can be observed from different sides of
Earth, but never in all places at once.
We distinguish
four types of solar eclipses:
1. A partial eclipse
occurs when the Moon only partially eclipses the Sun.
2. An
annular eclipse occurs when the entire Moon is not large enough to
conceal the entire Sun. In this case, a ring of light can be observed
around the shadow.
3. A total eclipse occurs when the Sun is
completely obscured by the Moon. This can only be seen when the Moon
is closest to Earth and only where the Moon’s shadow is the
darkest.
4. An annular total eclipse (also called a hybrid
eclipse) occurs when during the same eclipse it changes from the
annular eclipse to the total eclipse or the other way around. This is
the rarest type from all of those phenomena.
Etymology
Eclipse
(Noun), originated from ancient Greek ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis)
which means “the abandonment” or “the darkening of a heavenly
body”.
Sample Sentence(s)
A
solar eclipse cannot be visible from all the places on Earth all
at once.
Translations of Terms/Concepts into Partner
Languages
French Éclipse
solaire
German
Sonnenfinsternis
Italian
Eclissi
solare
Polish
Zaćmienie
Słońca
Swedish
Solförmörkelse
Links to Videos/Articles:
Hocken,
V. (n.d.), What Are Solar Eclipses?, Retrieved from
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar-eclipse.html NASA
Science SpacePlace Explore Earth and Space (n.d.), What Is Solar
Eclpise?, Retrieved from
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/eclipse-snap/en/ Dobrijevic,
D. (n.d.), What is a solar eclipse?, Retrieved from
https://www.space.com/15584-solar-eclipses.html Online
Etymology Dictionary (n.d.), eclipse (n.), Retrieved from
https://www.etymonline.com/word/eclipse Online
Etymology Dictionary (n.d.), solar (adj.), Retrieved from
https://www.etymonline.com/word/solar#etymonline_v_23841 ESA (2015), Europe’s solar
eclipse seen from Proba-2, Retrieved from
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2015/03/Europe_s_solar_eclipse_seen_from_Proba-2