Learn About the Solar Eclipse

In a solar eclipse, the moon moves between the Earth and the Sun. When this happens, part of the Sun's light is blocked. Depending on where you are standing on the Earth, you might see the sun completely blocked or only partly blocked, or you might not see it at all. The sky will slowly get dark as the moon moves in front of the Sun. When the moon and Sun are in a perfect line, it is called a total eclipse.

During an eclipse the sky gets dark and you can see the stars - but don't look directly at the sun unless you have special eclipse glasses!

A total solar eclipse only lasts around four minutes; then the moon moves slowly out of the way of the sun.

Eclipses move around the earth, so every year people in different countries see them.

Thales was a Greek mathematician who understood that the earth was round and the moon was lit by light reflecting from the sun. Thales predicted the solar eclipse on 28^th May 585 BC.

Solar eclipses happen because the Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun, but the Sun is 400 times further away. The tiny Moon is in just the right place to exactly cover the giant Sun! This does not happen anywhere else in the Solar System.

There are 5 stages in a Total Solar Eclipse

Stage 1 - Partial eclipse begins: The Moon's shadow starts becoming visible over the Sun's disc. The sun looks as if a bite has been taken from it.

Stage 2 - Full eclipse begins: Almost the entire disc of the Sun is covered by the Moon. Observers in the path of the Moon's umbra may be able to see Baily's beads and the diamond ring effect.

Stage 3 - Maximum eclipse or totality: The Moon completely covers the Sun. This is the most dramatic stage of a Total Solar Eclipse. At this time, the sky goes dark, temperatures fall drastically and birds and animals often go quiet.

Stage 4 - Full eclipse ends: The Moon's shadow starts moving away and the Sun reappears.

Stage 5 - Partial eclipse ends: The Moon stops overlapping the Sun's disc. The eclipse ends at this stage.

Future total solar eclipses for England

12^th August 2026

12^th September 2053

3^rd September 2081

23^rd September 2090

Lunar Eclipse

The Moon does not have its own light. It shines because its surface reflects the Sun's rays. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon and blocks the Sun's rays from directly reaching the Moon. Lunar eclipses only happen at Full Moon.

Solar and lunar eclipses come in pairs – a solar eclipse always takes place about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse. The next lunar eclipse was on 31st January 2018 but you will only be able to see it if you’re in America, Asia or Australia!

Why does it look red? Well when the Earth eclipses a full Moon, the direct sunlight is blocked, but the sun's rays still light up the moon. This light has traveled through the Earth's atmosphere first, and sometimes causes the totally eclipsed Moon to look red or brownish.