A solar eclipse occurs when the new Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, casting a shadow on the Earth. There are three types of solar eclipses: annular, partial, and total.
A partial solar eclipse occurs when the Sun and the Moon are not quite lined up. In this case, the Moon covers only a section of the Sun. This kind of eclipse usually goes unnoticed by most people on Earth because the sunlight is scarcely dimmed.
A total solar eclipse, however, is much more spectacular. At totality, the disc of the Sun is completely obscured by the new Moon, and only the ghostly solar corona and perhaps gigantic solar flares are visible around the edges of the Moon. Those parts of the Earth experiencing totality become very dark and it is possible to see stars in the sky.
An annular solar eclipse is similar to a total eclipse except that the new Moon is near apogee and its disc appears slightly smaller than that of the Sun. Thus, a bright ring or annulus of the solar disc remains at maximum eclipse, and the sky does not become dark.
There are at least two and sometimes as many as five solar eclipses every year. Why don't we have a solar eclipse during every new Moon? This is because the Moon's orbit around the Earth is at an angle to the ecliptic. The new Moon usually passes above or below the Sun as seen from the Earth and thus there is no eclipse. The proper alignment for a solar eclipse occurs only a few times a year.
Another kind of eclipse is a lunar eclipse which occurs when the Moon passes through the shadow cast by the Earth. A lunar eclipse only occurs when the Moon is full and for the same reasons given above, happens only two or three times a year.
A lunar eclipse may be total, partial or penumbral. A total lunar eclipse causes the full Moon to slowly darken as it enters the umbra of the Earth and at totality, the Moon may take on a dark coppery colour. During a partial lunar eclipse, the Moon does not fully enter the umbra of the Earth. A penumbral lunar eclipse is likely to go unnoticed as the Moon passes through the Earth's penumbra and does not dim a great deal.
WARNING! Never look at the Sun with the naked eye!
Use proper solar filters or better yet, project the image of the Sun onto a white piece of paper. However, it is completely safe to view a lunar eclipse with the naked eye.
| Penumbral Lunar Eclipse : 14-15 March | |
|---|---|
| The entire eclipse will be visible from Africa, the Middle East, western Asia and Europe. Most of Asia (except the Far East) and western Australia will witness the start of the eclipse, and South America plus most of North America will see it end. | |
| (14 March) 21:22 UT | The penumbral eclipse begins. |
| (14 March) 23:35 UT | Full Moon. |
| (14 March) 23:47 UT | Greatest eclipse: magnitude = 1.06. |
| (15 March) 02:13 UT | The penumbral eclipse ends. |
| Total Solar Eclipse : 29 March | |
| WARNING! Never look at the Sun with the naked eye! | |
| The path of totality begins in Brazil, crossing the Atlantic Ocean and making landfall in Ghana. It continues northeast through Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Libya (where greatest eclipse occurs) and the northwestern corner of Egypt before moving into the Mediterranean Sea. It then moves over Turkey, Georgia, Russia and Kazakhstan. The partial eclipse may be seen from most of Africa, all of Europe and the Middle East, and western and central Asia. | |
| 07:37 UT | The partial eclipse begins. |
| 08:35 UT | The total eclipse begins. |
| 10:11 UT | Greatest eclipse: magnitude = 1.05. |
| 10:17 UT | New Moon. |
| 10:47 UT | The total eclipse ends. |
| 12:46 UT | The partial eclipse ends. |
| Partial Lunar Eclipse : 7 September | |
| The entire eclipse will be visible from central Asia western Australia, eastern Africa and the Middle East. The rest of Australia, Africa and Asia as well as Europe will be able to witness the beginning or ending of the event. The eclipse is not visible from North America. | |
| 16:42 UT | The penumbral eclipse begins. |
| 18:05 UT | The partial eclipse begins. |
| 18:43 UT | Full Moon. |
| 18:51 UT | Greatest eclipse: umbral magnitude = 0.189. |
| 19:38 UT | The partial eclipse ends. |
| 21:00 UT | The penumbral eclipse ends. |
| Annular Solar Eclipse : 22 September | |
| WARNING! Never look at the Sun with the naked eye! | |
| The annular eclipse will be visible from Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana and a small portion of Brazil as well as much of the southern Atlantic Ocean The partial eclipse can be seen over a much wider area, including the eastern parts of South America and the western parts of Africa. | |
| 08:40 UT | The partial eclipse begins. |
| 09:48 UT | The annular eclipse begins. |
| 11:40 UT | Greatest eclipse: magnitude = 0.935. |
| 11:45 UT | New Moon. |
| 13:31 UT | The annular eclipse ends. |
| 14:40 UT | The partial eclipse ends. |
| Transit of Mercury : 8-9 November | |
| WARNING! Never look at the Sun with the naked eye! | |
| The entire transit will be visible from the westernmost parts of North America, most of the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand, and the southeast corner of Australia. The rest of North America and all of South America will see the beginning of the transit until local sunset. The transit will be in progress at local sunrise for the rest of Australia along with east and southeast Asia. Africa, Europe and most of Asia will not be witness to this event. | |
| (8 November) 19:12 UT | First contact |
| (8 November) 19:14 UT | Second contact |
| (8 November) 21:41 UT | Greatest transit |
| (9 November) 00:08 UT | Third contact |
| (9 November) 00:10 UT | Fourth contact |
| The last transit of Mercury occurred in May 2003 and the next one will not take place until May 2016. In the meantime, Venus will undergo a transit of the Sun on 6 June 2012. | |
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