History of Eclipse

	Revision 8 . . (edit) December 7, 2001 9:11 pm by Karl Palmen [Change 'draconitic' to 'draconic']
	Revision 7 . . (edit) November 2, 2001 8:23 am by Tompeters
	Revision 5 . . November 2, 2001 8:19 am by Paul Drye

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Difference (from prior major revision) (minor diff, author diff)

Changed: 2,3c2,5

* Lunar eclipses - where the Earth obscures the Sun, from the Moon's point of view. The Moon moves through the shadow cast by the Earth. This can only happens at full moon. * Solar eclipses - where the Moon obscures the Sun, from the Earth's point of view. The Moon casts a shadow that touches the surface of the Earth. This can only happen at new moon

* Lunar eclipses - where the Earth obscures the Sun, from the Moon's point of view. The Moon moves through the shadow cast by the Earth. This can only happen at full moon. * Solar eclipses - where the Moon obscures the Sun, from the Earth's point of view. The Moon casts a shadow that touches the surface of the Earth. This can only happen at new moon.

Changed: 7c9

A lunar eclipse is visible when the Moon is above the horizon when the eclipse happens: so it is visible from half the world. In contrast, solar eclipses are only total in the region where the shadow of the Moon touches the Earth: this area is comparatively small (of the order of 100 km across), so at any specific place it is rare to observe a total solar eclipse. The Sun appears partiallyy covered by the Moon from a much larger region of the world.

A lunar eclipse is visible when the Moon is above the horizon when the eclipse happens: so it is visible from half the world. In contrast, solar eclipses are only total in the region where the shadow of the Moon touches the Earth: this area is comparatively small (of the order of 100 km across), so at any specific place it is rare to observe a total solar eclipse. The Sun appears partially covered by the Moon from a much larger region of the world.

Changed: 9c11

An eclipse can only occur when the Sun, Earth and Moon are in a line. Because the plane of the orbit of the Moon is tilted with respect to the plane of the orbit of the Earth (the ecliptic), eclipses occur only when the three bodies are near the intersection of these planes: the so-called nodes. The Sun passes either node once a year, and eclipses occur in a period of about 2 draconitic months around these times.

An eclipse can only occur when the Sun, Earth and Moon are in a line. Because the plane of the orbit of the Moon is tilted with respect to the plane of the orbit of the Earth (the ecliptic), eclipses occur only when the three bodies are near the intersection of these planes: the so-called nodes. The Sun passes either node once a year, and eclipses occur in a period of about 2 draconic months around these times.