Eclipse

-

Eclipse->>LUNAR ECLIPSES

The earth, lit by the sun, casts a long, conical shadow in space. At any point within that cone the light of the sun is wholly obscured. Surrounding the shadow cone, also called the umbra, is an area of partial shadow called the penumbra. The approximate mean length of the umbra is 1,379,200 km (857,000 mi); at a distance of 384,600 km (239,000 mi), the mean distance of the moon from the earth, it has a diameter of about 9170 km (about 5700 mi).

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes completely into the umbra. If it moves directly through the center, it is obscured for about 2 hours. If it does not pass through the center, the period of totality is less and may last for only an instant if the moon travels through the very edge of the umbra.

A partial lunar eclipse occurs when only a part of the moon enters the umbra and is obscured. The extent of a partial eclipse can range from near totality, when most of the moon is obscured, to a slight or minor eclipse, when only a small portion of the earth’s shadow is seen on the passing moon. Historically, the view of the earth’s circular shadow advancing across the face of the moon was the first indication of the shape of the earth.

Before the moon enters the umbra in either total or partial eclipse, it is within the penumbra and the surface becomes visibly darker. The portion that enters the umbra seems almost black, but during a total eclipse, the lunar disk is not completely dark; it is faintly illuminated with a red light refracted by the earth’s atmosphere, which filters out the blue rays. Occasionally a lunar eclipse occurs when the earth is covered with a heavy layer of clouds that prevent light refraction; the surface of the moon is invisible during totality.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Characteristics of the Sun

-
Image
The distance between the sun and the earth varies because the earth travels in an elliptical rather than circular orbit. The distance is roughly 100 times the sun’s diameter. Turbulence in the photosphere forms granules of various sizes and sunspots. Temperature is a measure of kinetic energy . The dense plasma in the center of the sun is roughly 2500 times hotter than the surface. Gases in the corona have escaped from the sun’s surface and have a very high velocity. The sun’s spectral type, G2, indicates that it is composed of hydrogen , helium , calcium , iron and other metals.
Read more

Ecliptic

-
Ecliptic, in astronomy, the apparent great-circle annual path of the sun in the celestial sphere , as seen from the earth . It is so named because eclipses occur only when the moon is on or near this path. The plane of this path, called the plane of the ecliptic, intersects the celestial equator (the projection of the earth's equator on the celestial sphere) at an angle of about 23°27’. This angle is known as the obliquity of the ecliptic and is approximately constant over a period of millions of years, although at present it is decreasing at the rate of 48 seconds of arc in each century and will decrease for several millenniums until it reaches 22°54’, after which it will again increase. The two points at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator are called nodes or equinoxes. The sun is at the vernal equinox about March 21 and at the autumnal equinox about September 23. Halfway on the ecliptic between the equinoxes are the summer and winter solstices. The sun arrives a...
Read more

Solar System

-
Image
Solar System, the Sun and everything that orbits the Sun, including the nine planets and their satellites ; the asteroids and comets ; and interplanetary dust and gas. The term may also refer to a group of celestial bodies orbiting another star (see Extrasolar Planets ). In this article, solar system refers to the system that includes Earth and the Sun. The dimensions of the solar system are specified in terms of the mean distance from Earth to the Sun, called the astronomical unit (AU). One AU is 150 million km (about 93 million mi). The most distant known planet, Pluto , orbits about 39 AU from the Sun. Estimates for the boundary where the Sun’s magnetic field ends and interstellar space begins—called the heliopause—range from 86 to 100 AU. The most distant known planetoid orbiting the Sun is Sedna, whose discovery was reported in March 2004. A planetoid is an object that is too small to be a planet. At the farthest point in its orbit, Sedna is about 900 AU from the Sun. Com...
Read more