An umbral shadow can create three types of eclipses, a total solar eclipse, a total lunar eclipse, and a partial lunar eclipse. A total solar eclipse happens when a new moon moves in front of the sun and the viewer is within the Moon’s umbral …show more content…
This eclipse occurs when the moon is covering only the center of the sun, which creates a “ring of fire” effect around the Moon which is called an annulus. The Moon during this eclipse is the farthest point away from the Earth it can be, known as apogee, and is also around its new moon phase. The entire eclipse can last up to 6 hours, annularity or the “ring in fire” effect lasts up to 12 minutes but sometimes only appear for a second.
Solar eclipses have been happening since the dawn of our solar system we have many different forms of documentation of them. Petroglyphs, or rock carvings, from November 30, 3340 B.C. in Ireland may be the first documentation of a solar eclipse which corresponded with the time of the carving. The first confirmed record of a solar eclipse was found in an ancient Chinese document book, known as the Shu Ching. This eclipse occured on October 22, 2134 …show more content…
The sun is a bright, burning ball of light, so much like anything bright we tend to not look at it. We will almost immediately squint when we look at the sun or just avert our eyes in general. When the sun is covered by the moon during totality or even covered partially, it becomes much less bright, resulting in us not averting our eyes and becoming susceptible to eye damage. In order to safely view the sun you must use one of three methods, eclipse glasses which are most commonly used, a filtered telescope, or the pinhole projection method. Eclipse glasses are industrial strength, making them stronger than most welder goggles. Most of them in Shade 14 filters, as Shade 13 filters are hard to find and Shade 12 filters make the sun too bright for most people. Filtered telescopes have special covers much like the material for eclipse glasses. Without the filter the light from the sun will directly hit your eye and likely start a fire within your telescope. Pinhole projector shows the sun and its transition onto a piece of cardboard, some methods use telescopes and binoculars rather than