The Great American Solar Eclipse

Solar Eclipse/ Surya grahan  21 August 2017

 

 An eclipse takes place when one heavenly body such as a moon or planet moves into the shadow of another heavenly body. There are two types of eclipses on Earth: an eclipse of the moon and an eclipse of the sun.

Sometimes when the moon orbits Earth, it moves between the sun and Earth. When this happens, the moon blocks the light of the sun from reaching Earth. This causes an eclipse of the sun, or solar eclipse. During a solar eclipse, the moon casts a shadow onto Earth.

Since looking directly at the Sun can lead to permanent eye damage or blindness, special eye protection or indirect viewing techniques are used when viewing a solar eclipse. It is technically safe to view only the total phase of a total solar eclipse with the unaided eye and without protection; however, this is a dangerous practice, as most people are not trained to recognize the phases of an eclipse, which can span over two hours while the total phase can only last a maximum of 7.5 minutes for any one location.

A total solar eclipse was expected to sweep across the United States for the first time in 99 years.

The ‘Great American Eclipse,’ moved diagonally across the country,

northwest to southeast, provided a spectacular solar show - weather permitted -- and an excellent excuse for scores of eclipse- viewed parties and music festivals.

 Solar Eclipse--United States

< Last Solar Eclipse on Aug 21, 2017(Monday)

Next Solar Eclipse on Feb 15, 2018 >

As we admire the rarity of a total solar eclipse, many questions come to mind that not only occur to us now, but have puzzled eclipse watchers for thousands of years.