Who stole the sun?
It’s the middle of the day. The sun hangs big and bright in the sky.
But, what’s this? The sky seems to be growing dark. Is there going to be
a storm? No, there are no clouds. Why is the sky getting dark?
One edge of the sun seems to disappear! The sun grows dim! Slowly, more
and more and more of it vanishes, as if big bites are being taken out of
it. Finally, the sky is nearly as dark as night. Where the sun was,
there is only a dark spot, with a pale, fuzzy ring around it! What has
happened?
What has happened is simply that the moon, which moves around the earth,
has passed between the earth and the sun. The sun is much bigger than
the moon, but it is so far away that the moon can cover it up, just as
you can cover up a distant house when you hold your hand before your
face. When the moon is between the sun and the earth, the moon throws a
shadow on the earth. The part of earth covered by the shadow is in
darkness. When the moon gets between the earth and the sun this way, it
is called a solar eclipse.
A solar eclipse can’t be seen over the whole world. It is only seen from
the part of earth that is directly in line with both the sun and moon.
The moon’s shadow is never wider than about 170 miles (274 kilometers).
When the whole sun is covered up, it is called a total eclipse.
Sometimes, only part of the sun is covered. That is called a partial
eclipse. An eclipse never lasts more than about seven and a half
minutes. Never look directly at an eclipse, not even with sunglasses or
through film. Your eyes could be badly injured!
total eclipse
