Partial Solar Eclipse March 20th 2015 The lighter area on the Earth is what we call the Penumbra of the eclipse shaddow, in here we would see a partial eclipse The darker area is called the “Umbra” within this area we would see a total (or annular) eclipse)
When you look up in the sky our Moon apprears to be roughly the same size as our own Sun in the sky. Which enables something special to happen. One rare occasions when the Moon passes in between the Earth and the Sun we experience something called an eclipse. The type of eclipse we experience depends on the distance the Moon is from the Earth and what portion of the Sun the Moon covers from our perspective here on Earth. There are three types of solar eclipse a) Total b) Annular c) Partial (not to be confused with lunar eclipse which is another type entirely). a) Total eclipse This occurrs when the Sun is further from the Earth and the Moon is closest. At this point most bar the outer limb of the Sun is covered (eclipsed) by the Moon. This is NOT what is happening here in the United Kingdom on 20th March 2015, but still worth looking at Note: YOU MUST NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY WITH OR WITHOUT AN OPTICAL INSTRUMENT UNLESS OTHERWISE DIRECTED, IT WILL BLIND YOU