What causes a solar eclipse?

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, blocking all or part of the Sun’s light from reaching the Earth. This alignment causes the Moon’s shadow to fall on the Earth’s surface, temporarily darkening the sky in certain areas during daytime. There are different types of solar eclipses depending on how much of the Sun is obscured. In a total solar eclipse, the Moon completely covers the Sun, casting a shadow called the umbra on Earth and causing day to briefly turn into night. In a partial solar eclipse, only a portion of the Sun is blocked by the Moon. An annular solar eclipse happens when the Moon is too far from Earth to completely cover the Sun, leaving a visible ring or “annulus” of the Sun’s surface around the Moon. Solar eclipses can only happen during a new moon phase when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned in a straight or nearly straight line. Because the Moon’s orbit is slightly tilted relative to Earth’s orbit around the Sun, solar eclipses don’t occur every month but only during specific times when this alignment is just right.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, blocking all or part of the Sun’s light from reaching the Earth. This alignment causes the Moon to cast a shadow on the Earth’s surface. Depending on the exact positions and distances of the Moon and Earth, the eclipse can be total, partial, or annular. During a **total solar eclipse**, the Moon completely covers the Sun as seen from certain areas on Earth, briefly turning day into night in those locations. In a **partial solar eclipse**, only part of the Sun is obscured by the Moon. An **annular eclipse** happens when the Moon is farther away from Earth in its orbit, so it appears smaller and does not completely cover the Sun, leaving a bright ring, or “ring of fire,” visible around the Moon. Solar eclipses can only occur during a new moon phase, when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned. However, because the Moon’s orbit is tilted relative to Earth’s orbit around the Sun, eclipses don’t happen every new moon—only when the alignment occurs near the points where the two orbital planes intersect, called nodes.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, blocking all or part of the Sun’s light from reaching the Earth. This alignment causes the Moon to cast a shadow on the Earth’s surface. Depending on the exact positions and distances of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, different types of solar eclipses can occur: total, partial, or annular. In a **total solar eclipse**, the Moon completely covers the Sun as seen from certain areas on Earth, briefly turning day into night. This happens because the Moon’s apparent size in the sky is large enough to obscure the entire solar disk. In a **partial solar eclipse**, only a portion of the Sun is blocked by the Moon. An **annular solar eclipse** occurs when the Moon is farther away from Earth in its orbit, making it appear smaller than the Sun; as a result, the Sun looks like a bright ring (or “annulus”) around the dark silhouette of the Moon. Overall, a solar eclipse is a fascinating celestial event caused by the precise alignment of the Sun, Moon, and Earth, with the Moon’s shadow falling on Earth’s surface and temporarily altering the normal daylight experience.