solar eclipses

This picture, taken by Fred Espenak, shows a total eclipse of the Sun. The dark central area is the Moon; it’s covering up the Sun’s disk completely. All that’s left to see is the light from the Sun’s very faint, wispy corona.

Here is a movie taken during an eclipse. The movie starts when the Moon has almost covered the Sun’s disk, just a shaft of light remains shining through. The movie gets very shaky towards the end as the photographer obviously got very excited!

What is a total solar eclipse?

A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun and blocks the light from the Sun’s disk.

To see when and where future eclipses are, click on the map.

To look at the Sun during a total eclipse you MUST use a special filter or glasses.

It is only safe to look at the Sun without a filter during a total eclipse, and then just for the few minutes of ‘totality’, that is when the Sun’s disk is completely covered by the Moon.

NEVER DO THIS WITHOUT SUPERVISION FROM A TEACHER.

LOOKING AT THE SUN DIRECTLY WILL DAMAGE YOUR EYESIGHT.