How a solar eclipse happens
In short: When the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, its shadow blocks the Sun's light on part of Earth.
1. The Moon orbits Earth and sometimes passes between the Sun and Earth. 2. This happens only occasionally, because the Moon's orbit is tilted compared with the Sun and Earth. 3. The Moon casts its shadow on part of Earth, blocking the Sun's light there. 4. Inside the darkest part of the shadow the Moon covers the whole Sun: a total solar eclipse. 5. The sky darkens as if it were dawn or dusk, and the Sun's corona shows.
Sources: NASA, “Types of Solar Eclipses” (Public domain (US Government work)); Wikipedia, “Solar eclipse (Wikipedia)” (CC BY-SA 4.0). Illustrative, not to scale.
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Sources
- Source: NASA: Types of Solar Eclipses · Public domain (US Government work)
- Also: Solar eclipse
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