Partial Eclipse Day

Today is a rather special day, as today, we'll get to see a partial solar eclipse!

On this day, we'll get to see the moon pass between the Earth and the Sun. A total solar eclipse is when the moon completely obscures the Sun, leaving only a very faint corona visible. This type of eclipse occurs every 18 months on average. This is unlike a lunar eclipse, in which the Earth passes between the sun and moon. 

"Wait a second!" You may be asking yourself. "If this kind of eclipse happens every 18 months, why is it such a big deal?" Well, that's because of the orbits of the Moon 🌑 around the Earth 🌎 and the Earth around the Sun 🌞. You see, the Moon's orbit around the Earth, just like the Earth's around the sun, is not perfectly circular. It's elliptical. The Moon's orbit is also tilted at about 5 degrees to the Earth's. This is the reason why the Sun and Moon can appear to be different sizes in the sky. The elliptical orbits cause differences in distances between the three celestial bodies. As a result, the Moon's shadow often misses Earth. In fact, if the Moon's orbit was circular, and shared an orbital plane with Earth's, total solar eclipses would occur once a month with every new moon.

This eclipse will be seen as partial or total depending on where you are. If you're in Europe today, you'll get to see the moon cover most of the sun. If you're in the U.S. like I am at now, you'll get to see it being more covered, due to the path of totality.

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