On October 25th 2022, a partial solar eclipse occurred, that I was lucky enough to witness with my family. We found a park on a hill that we decided was the perfect spot to view it from, and in order to view it safely, we purchased BBC approved solar eclipse viewing glasses that allowed us to see it without damaging our eyes. My cousins were also with us, who are 9 and 11 years old, so they were very excited to see one; never having seen one before. We watched as the moon first began to cover the sun, right up until it reached its peak, before it started to lessen again. It was extremely interesting to see, even if it was only a partial eclipse, as the last one I was able to see was when I was in primary school. We also talked to a couple who were in the same spot as us to see the eclipse, which was really interesting to learn about the other eclipses they had travelled to see.
What is an eclipse?
An eclipse is an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the another passing between it and us, or between it and its source of light. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, therefore obscuring our view of the Sun. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is positioned between the Moon and the Sun, which causes Earth’s shadow to obscure the Moon.
There are 4 types of eclipse: total, partial, annular and hybrid.
A total eclipse is the type of eclipse when then whole of the sun or the moon is obscured/darkened.
A partial eclipse is when only part of the sun or moon is obscured/darkened.
An annular eclipse is an eclipse of the sun in which the edge of the sun remains visible as a ring around the moon.
A hybrid eclipse is a combination of an annular and total eclipse.
Comments