Solar eclipse why does it occur

As a result of which the annular solar eclipse may look like a partial solar eclipse. When does an annular solar eclipse happen?

We do not get to see a 'ring of fire' during all solar eclipse. For an annular solar eclipse to take place, three things need to happen — there should be a New Moon, the Moon should be at or very near a lunar node so that the Sun, Moon and the Earth all are in a straight line and the Moon should be near the apogee the farthest point of the Moon from Earth so that the outer edge of the Sun is visible.

The 'Ring of Fire' is visible only when all these three parameters are met. It will slowly increase in intensity before peaking two hours later. It will end at 1. Places where solar eclipse can be seen In Delhi, the partial eclipse will begin at 8. The partial eclipse will end at The solar eclipse will be at its maximum intensity at It will cause permanent damage of the eyes even when the moon covers most portion of the sun.

The harmful ultra violet rays from the sun can destroy cells in the retina that transmit what you see to the brain, sometimes causing permanent damage. For example, on March 29, , a total eclipse swept across parts of western and northern Africa and then across southern Asia.

One Saros later, on April 8, , this eclipse will recur, except instead of Africa and Asia, it will track across northern Mexico, the central and eastern United States and the Maritime provinces of Canada. As a solar eclipse approaches, the mainstream media often will provide a variety of warnings and advisories against looking at the sun with bare eyes, as blindness could ensue.

This has given most people the idea that eclipses are dangerous. The sun constantly emits invisible infrared rays that can damage your eyes. Ordinarily, we have no reason to gaze at the sun. An eclipse gives us a reason, but we shouldn't.

By far, the safest way to view a solar eclipse is to construct a "pinhole camera. Binoculars or a good telescope mounted on a tripod can also be used to project a magnified image of the sun onto a white card. The farther away the card, the larger you can focus the image. Look for sunspots. Notice that the sun appears somewhat darker around its limb or edge.

This method of solar viewing is safe so long as you remember not to look through the binoculars or telescope when they are pointed toward the sun; put another way, never look directly at the sun when any part of its blindingly bright surface is visible. A variation on the pinhole theme is the "pinhole mirror. Open a sun-facing window and place the covered mirror on the sunlit sill so it reflects a disk of light onto the far wall inside. The disk of light is an image of the sun's face.

The farther away from the wall is the better; the image will be only 1 inch across for every 9 feet or 3 centimeters for every 3 meters from the mirror.

Modeling clay works well to hold the mirror in place. Experiment with different-sized holes in the paper. Again, a large hole makes the image bright, but fuzzy, and a small one makes it dim but sharp.

Darken the room as much as possible. Be sure to try this out beforehand to make sure the mirror's optical quality is good enough to project a clean, round image. Of course, don't let anyone look at the sun in the mirror. If you're around leafy trees, look at the shadow cast by them during the partial phases. What do you see? Is it worth a photograph?

You will see scores of partially eclipsed suns projected through pinhole gaps between the leaves. This is caused by diffraction, a property of light.

According to Vince Huegele, an optical physicist at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, the light rays do not shoot straight by the rim of the gaps, or a pinhole, but bend around the edge. This wave effect creates a pattern of rings that resembles a bull's eye. If you want to get all set up for it, we have guides to the best cameras for astrophotography , and the best lenses for astro , so you can be well prepared when the time comes. Acceptable filters for unaided visual solar observations include aluminized Mylar.

Some astronomy dealers carry Mylar filter material specially designed for solar observing. Also acceptable is shade 14 arc-welder's glass, available for just a few dollars at welding supply shops. Depending upon which part of the shadow passes over you, you will see one of three types of solar eclipses:. If the umbra passes over you, the entire central portion of the sun will be blocked out. You will see a total solar eclipse , and the sky will darken as if it were night time.

During a total solar eclipse, you can see the sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona. In fact, this is the only time that you can see the corona, which is why astronomers get so excited when a total eclipse is about to occur. Many astronomers travel the world chasing eclipses.

If the penumbra passes over you, only part of the sun's surface will be blocked out. You will see a partial solar eclipse , and the sky may dim slightly depending on how much of the sun's disc is covered. In some cases, the moon is far enough away in its orbit that the umbra never reaches the Earth at all.

In this case, there is no region of totality, and what you see is an annular solar eclipse. In an annular eclipse, only a small, ring-like sliver of light is seen from the sun's disc "annular" means "of a ring".

Never look at the sun directly -- doing so can damage your eyes. The best way to observe the sun is by projecting the image. Here is one way to project the sun's image:. Sign up for our Newsletter! There are 4 different types of solar eclipses. How much of the Sun's disk is eclipsed, the eclipse magnitude , depends on which part of the Moon's shadow falls on Earth. Solar eclipses are only visible from within the area on Earth where the Moon's shadow falls, and the closer you are to the center of the shadow's path, the bigger the eclipse looks.

Solar eclipses are usually named for their darkest, or maximum, point. The exception is the hybrid eclipse. The darkest point of solar eclipses is only visible from a small area. In most places and for most of the duration, total, annular, and hybrid eclipses look like a partial solar eclipse.