Transit of Phobos from Mars

A transit of Phobos across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when Phobos passes directly between the Sun and a point on the surface of Mars, obscuring a large part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars. During a transit, Phobos can be seen from Mars as a large black disc rapidly moving across the face of the Sun. At the same time, the shadow of Phobos moves across the Martian surface.

The event could also be referred to as a partial occultation (or, popularly but inaccurately, a partial eclipse) of the Sun by Phobos.


Transit

A transit of Phobos from Mars usually lasts only thirty seconds or so, due to the moon's very rapid orbital period of about 7.6 hours.

Because Phobos orbits close to Mars and in line with its equator, transits of Phobos occur somewhere on Mars on most days of the Martian year. Its orbital inclination is 1.08°, so the latitude of its shadow projected onto the Martian surface shows a seasonal variation, moving from 70.4°S to 70.4°N and back again over the course of a Martian year. Phobos is so close to Mars that it is not visible south of 70.4°S or north of 70.4°N; for some days in the year, its shadow misses the surface entirely and falls north or south of Mars.

At any given geographical location on the surface of Mars, there are two intervals in a Martian year when the shadows of Phobos or Deimos is passing through its latitude. During each such interval, about half a dozen transits of Phobos can be seen by observers at that geographical location (compared to zero or one transits of Deimos). Transits of Phobos in the northern hemisphere happen during Martian autumn and winter; close to the equator they happen around the autumnal equinox and the vernal equinox; farther from the equator they happen closer to the winter solstice.

Observers at high latitudes less than 70.4° will see a noticeably smaller angular diameter for Phobos because they are considerably farther away from it than observers at Mars's equator. As a result, transits of Phobos for such observers will cover less of the Sun's disk. Because it orbits so close to Mars, Phobos cannot be seen north of 70.4°N or south of 70.4°S; such latitudes will obviously not see transits either.

Mars Rover Opportunity photographed transits of Phobos on March 7, 2004 and March 10, 2004 and March 12, 2004. In the captions below, the first row shows Earth time UTC and the second row shows Martian local solar time.

Solar eclipses on Pluto

Eclipses of the Sun on Pluto are caused when one of its three natural satellites – Charon, Nix and Hydra – passes in front of the Sun, blocking its light.

An eclipse can occur only when one of the satellites' orbital nodes, the points where their orbits cross Pluto's ecliptic, is lined up with the apparent position of the Sun as seen from Pluto. Since all three of its satellites orbit in the same plane, the times at which this is possible are the same for all three. There are only two points in Pluto's orbit where this can happen.

Charon typically presents an angular diameter of between 3 and 4 degrees of arc as seen from the surface of Pluto. The Sun appears much smaller, only 40 arcseconds to 1 arcminute. This means that during solar eclipses by Charon, a large proportion of Pluto's surface can experience a total eclipse.

There are large uncertainties in the diameters of Nix and Hydra, Pluto's two smaller moons, and as a result their apparent diameters (as seen from Pluto) are also uncertain. However, it is known that Nix's angular diameter is 3-9 minutes, while Hydra's is 2-7 minutes. These are much larger than the Sun's angular diameter, so total solar eclipses are possible with these moons.

The period when eclipses were observed on Pluto was between February 1985 and October 1990.As seen from Earth, Charon also transited Pluto every orbit during this period. By measuring the change in brightness during these transit events, astronomers were able to measure the radius of both Pluto and Charon. Nowadays, telescopes, such as the Hubble Space Telescope have high enough resolution that the radius can be measured directly.

The next period of time when solar eclipses can occur on Pluto will begin October 2103, peak in 2110, and end January 2117. During this period, solar eclipses will occur at some point on Pluto every orbit of Charon. The maximum duration of any solar eclipse by Charon as seen from Pluto during this period is about 90 minutes.

Solar eclipses on Jupiter

Solar eclipses on Jupiter occur when any of the natural satellites of Jupiter pass in front of the Sun as seen from the planet Jupiter. For bodies which appear smaller in angular diameter than the Sun, the proper term would be a transit. For bodies which are larger than the apparent size of the Sun, the proper term would be an occultation.

There are 5 satellites capable of completely occulting the Sun; Amalthea, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. All of the others are too small or too distant to be able to completely occult the Sun, so can only transit the Sun. Most of the more distant satellites also have orbits that are strongly inclined to the plane of Jupiter's orbit, and would rarely be seen to transit.

When the four largest satellites of Jupiter, the Galilean satellites, occult the Sun, a shadow transit can be seen on the surface of Jupiter which can be observed from Earth in telescopes.

Eclipses of the Sun from Jupiter are not particularly rare, since Jupiter is very large and its axial tilt (which is related to the plane of the orbits of its satellites) is relatively small - indeed, the vast majority of the orbits of all 5 of the objects capable of occulting the Sun will result in a solar occultation visible from somewhere on Jupiter's surface.

The related phenomenon of satellite eclipses in the shadow of Jupiter has been observed since the time of Giovanni Cassini and Ole Roemer in the mid Seventeenth Century. It was soon noticed that predicted times differed from observed times in a regular way, varying from up to ten minutes early to up to ten minutes late. Roemer used these errors to make the first accurate determination of the speed of light, correctly realizing the variations were caused by the varying distance between Earth and Jupiter as the two planets moved in their orbits around the Sun.

The website skytonight.comcarries links to predictions for eclipses of Jovian moons and their shadow transits.

Meteorological measurements

A marked drop of the intensity of the solar radiation occurs during solar eclipse. It influences the actions in the atmosphere. The variations of the atmospheric actions display in changes of standard meteorological and physical quantities. We can notice it by a measurement of the air temperature and other meteorological quantities (e.g.: air humidity, soil temperature, colour of the solar radiation).

The progressions of the quantities are usually detected by special weather stations because of a short duration of a total (annular) solar eclipse. The properties of the devices usually are: high speed of measurement, high resolution and sensitivity. Acquired results show very interesting variations in progressions of meteorological and physical quantities (e.g.: colour of the light).[47]

Artificial satellites

Artificial satellites can also pass in front of, or transit, the Sun as seen from Earth, but none are large enough to cause an eclipse. At the altitude of the International Space Station, for example, an object would need to be about 3.35 km across to blot the Sun out entirely. These transits are difficult to watch, because the zone of visibility is very small. The satellite passes over the face of the Sun in about a second, typically. As with a transit of a planet, it will not get dark.[44]

Artificial satellites do play an important role in documenting solar eclipses. Images of the umbra on the Earth's surface taken from Mir and the International Space Station are among the most spectacular eclipse images in history.[45] Observations of eclipses from satellites orbiting above the Earth's atmosphere are of course not subject to weather conditions.

The direct observation of a total solar eclipse from space is rather rare. The only documented case is Gemini 12 in 1966. The partial phase of the 2006 total eclipse was visible from the International Space Station. At first, it looked as though an orbit correction in the middle of March would bring the ISS in the path of totality, but this correction was postponed.[46]

Partial and annular eclipses

Viewing the Sun during partial and annular eclipses (and during total eclipses outside the brief period of totality) requires special eye protection, or indirect viewing methods. The Sun's disk can be viewed using appropriate filtration to block the harmful part of the Sun's radiation. Sunglasses are not safe, since they do not block the harmful and invisible infrared radiation which causes retinal damage. Only properly designed and certified solar filters should ever be used for direct viewing of the Sun's disk.[35] Especially, self-made filters using common objects like a floppy disk removed from its case, a Compact Disc, a black colour slide film, etc. must be avoided despite what may have been said in the media.[36]

The safest way to view the Sun's disk is by indirect projection. This can be done by projecting an image of the disk onto a white piece of paper or card using a pair of binoculars (with one of the lenses covered), a telescope, or another piece of cardboard with a small hole in it (about 1 mm diameter), often called a pinhole camera. The projected image of the Sun can then be safely viewed; this technique can be used to observe sunspots, as well as eclipses. However, care must be taken to ensure that no one looks through the projector (telescope, pinhole, etc.) directly. Viewing the Sun's disk on a video display screen (provided by a video camera or digital camera) is safe, although the camera itself may be damaged by direct exposure to the Sun. The optical viewfinders provided with some video and digital cameras are not safe.

In the partial eclipse path one will not be able to see the spectacular corona or nearly complete darkening of the sky, yet, depending on how much of the sun's disk is obscured, some darkening may be noticeable. If two-thirds or more of the sun is obscured, then an effect can be observed by which the daylight appears to be dim, as if the sky were overcast, yet objects still cast sharp shadows.

tips to watch solar eclipse

Solar eclipse watchers need to take some precautions prior to observing the eclipse. This is because the sun’s photosphere emits intense infrared and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Just as UV radiation causes sunburn to skin, it can also damage the retinas in the eyes at a much faster rate. The human eye can suffer permanent damage if it is exposed to direct sunlight for a few seconds. It is recommended that one wears protective eyewear to safely observe an eclipse.

A safe way to view the sun is to project its image on a screen, such as white paper or cardboard. Projection works well with or without a telescope or binoculars. Other equipment that can be used to observe an eclipse are: eyepiece(s); a solar filter; a solar projection screen; a camera; a camera lens; film; a cable release (including a spare); a video camera; a videotape; spare batteries; a tripod; a tape recorder to record comments and reactions; a shortwave radio to keep track of time; a space blanket; sunscreen and a hat; a stopwatch; a thermometer; a white bed sheet used to catch a glimpse of shadow bands; duct tape; elastic bands; a logbook; and food, water and extra clothing.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information only. Information on this site is not a substitute for professional health care advice.

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Historical eclipses

Astronomers Studying an Eclipse by Antoine Caron

Historical eclipses are a valuable resource for historians, in that they allow a few historical events to be precisely dated, from which other dates and a society's calendar can be deduced. A solar eclipse of June 15 763 BC mentioned in an Assyrian text is important for the Chronology of the Ancient Orient. Also known as the eclipse of Bur Sagale, it is the earliest solar eclipse mentioned in historical sources that has been successfully identified. Perhaps the earliest still-unproven claim is that of archaeologist Bruce Masse; on the basis of several ancient flood myths that mention a total solar eclipse, he links an eclipse that occurred May 10, 2807 BC with a possible meteor impact in the Indian Ocean.^[16] There have been other claims to date earlier eclipses, notably that of Mursili II (likely 1312 BC), in Babylonia, and also in China, during the 5th year (2084 BC) of the regime of king Zhong Kang of Xia dynasty, but these are highly disputed and rely on much supposition.^[17][18]

Herodotus wrote that Thales of Miletus predicted an eclipse which occurred during a war between the Medians and the Lydians. Soldiers on both sides put down their weapons and declared peace as a result of the eclipse. Exactly which eclipse was involved has remained uncertain, although the issue has been studied by hundreds of ancient and modern authorities. One likely candidate took place on May 28 585 BC, probably near the Halys river in the middle of modern Turkey.^[19]

An annular eclipse of the Sun occurred at Sardis on February 17 478 BC, while Xerxes was departing for his expedition against Greece, as Herodotus recorded.^[20] Hind and Chambers considered this absolute date more than a century ago.^[21] Herodotus also reports that another solar eclipse was observed in Sparta during the next year, on August 1 477 BC.^[22][23][24] The sky suddenly darkened in the middle of the day, well after the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis, after the departure of Mardonius to Thessaly at the beginning of the spring of (477 BC) and his second attack on Athens, after the return of Cleombrotus to Sparta. Note that the modern conventional dates are different by a year or two, and that these two eclipse records have been ignored so far.^[25] The Chronicle of Ireland recorded a solar eclipse on June 29, 512 AD, and a solar eclipse was reported to have taken place during the Battle of Stiklestad in the summer of 1030.

It has also been attempted to establish the exact date of Good Friday by means of solar eclipses, but this research has not yielded conclusive results.^[26] Research has manifested the inability of total solar eclipses to serve as explanations for the recorded Good Friday features of the crucifixion eclipse.^[27] (Good Friday is recorded as being at Passover, which is also recorded as being at or near the time of a full moon.)

The ancient Chinese astronomer Shi Shen (fl. 4th century BC) was aware of the relation of the moon in a solar eclipse, as he provided instructions in his writing to predict them by using the relative positions of the moon and sun.^[28] The 'radiating influence' theory for a solar eclipse (i.e., the moon's light was merely light reflected from the sun) was existent in Chinese thought from about the 6th century BC (in the Zhi Ran of Zhi Ni Zi),^[29] and opposed by the Chinese philosopher Wang Chong (27–97 AD), who made clear in his writing that this theory was nothing new.^[30] This can be said of Jing Fang's writing in the 1st century BC, which stated:

The moon and the planets are Yin; they have shape but no light. This they receive only when the sun illuminates them. The former masters regarded the sun as round like a crossbow bullet, and they thought the moon had the nature of a mirror. Some of them recognized the moon as a ball too. Those parts of the moon which the sun illuminates look bright, those parts which it does not, remain dark.^[29]

The ancient Greeks had known this as well, since it was Parmenides of Elea around 475 BC who supported the theory of the moon shining because of reflected light, and was accepted in the time of Aristotle as well.^[29] The Chinese astronomer and inventor Zhang Heng (78–139 AD) wrote of both solar and lunar eclipses in the publication of Ling Xian in 120 AD, supporting the radiating influence theory that Wang Chong had opposed (Wade-Giles):

The sun is like fire and the moon like water. The fire gives out light and the water reflects it. Thus the moon's brightness is produced from the radiance of the sun, and the moon's darkness (pho) is due to (the light of) the sun being obstructed (pi). The side which faces the sun is fully lit, and the side which is away from it is dark. The planets (as well as the moon) have the nature of water and reflect light. The light pouring forth from the sun (tang jih chih chhung kuang) does not always reach the moon owing to the obstruction (pi) of the earth itself—this is called 'an-hsü', a lunar eclipse. When (a similar effect) happens with a planet (we call it) an occulation (hsing wei); when the moon passes across (kuo)(the sun's path) then there is a solar eclipse (shih).^[31]

The later Chinese scientist and statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1035 AD) also wrote of eclipses, and his reasoning for why the celestial bodies were round and spherical instead of flat (Wade-Giles spelling):

The Director [of the Astronomical Observatory] asked me about the shapes of the sun and moon; whether they were like balls or (flat) fans. If they were like balls they would surely obstruct (ai) each other when they met. I replied that these celestial bodies were certainly like balls. How do we know this? By the waxing and waning (ying khuei) of the moon. The moon itself gives forth no light, but is like a ball of silver; the light is the light of the sun (reflected). When the brightness is first seen, the sun(-light passes almost) alongside, so the side only is illuminated and looks like a crescent. When the sun gradually gets further away, the light shines slanting, and the moon is full, round like a bullet. If half of a sphere is covered with (white) powder and looked at from the side, the covered part will look like a crescent; if looked at from the front, it will appear round. Thus we know that the celestial bodies are spherical...Since the sun and moon are in conjunction (ho) and in opposition (tui) once a day, why then do they have eclipses only occasionally?' I answered that the ecliptic and the moon's path are like two rings, lying one over the other (hsiang tieh), but distant by a small amount. (If this obliquity did not exist), the sun would be eclipsed whenever the two bodies were in conjunction, and the moon would be eclipsed whenever they were exactly in position. But (in fact) though they may occupy the same degree, the two paths are not (always) near (each other), and so naturally the bodies do not (intrude) upon one another.^[32]

Final totality

Spectacular solar eclipses are an extreme rarity within the universe at large. They are seen on Earth because of a fortuitous combination of circumstances that are statistically very improbable. Even on Earth, spectacular eclipses of the type familiar to people today are a temporary (on a geological time scale) phenomenon. Many millions of years in the past, the Moon was too close to the Earth to precisely occult the Sun as it does during eclipses today; and many millions of years in the future, it will be too far away to do so.

Due to tidal acceleration, the orbit of the Moon around the Earth becomes approximately 3.8 cm more distant each year. It is estimated that in 600 million years, the distance from the Earth to the Moon will have increased by 23,500 km, meaning that it will no longer be able to completely cover the Sun's disk. This will be true even when the Moon is at perigee, and the Earth at aphelion.

A complicating factor is that the Sun will increase in size over this timescale. This makes it even more unlikely that the Moon will be able to cause a total eclipse. We can therefore say that the last total solar eclipse on Earth will occur in slightly less than 600 million years.^[15]

Occurrence and cycles

Total Solar Eclipse Paths: 1001–2000. This image was merged from 50 separate images from NASA.^[11]

Total solar eclipses are rare events. Although they occur somewhere on Earth every 18 months on average,^[12] it has been estimated that they recur at any given place only once every 370 years, on average. The total eclipse only lasts for a few minutes at that location, as the Moon's umbra moves eastward at over 1700 km/h. Totality can never last more than 7 min 31 s, and is usually much shorter: during each millennium there are typically fewer than 10 total solar eclipses exceeding 7 minutes. The last time this happened was June 30, 1973 (7 min 3 sec). Observers aboard a Concorde aircraft were able to stretch totality to about 74 minutes by flying along the path of the Moon's umbra. The next eclipse exceeding seven minutes in duration will not occur until June 25, 2150. The longest total solar eclipse during the 8,000-year period from 3000 BC to 5000 AD will occur on July 16, 2186, when totality will last 7 min 29 s.^[13] For comparison, the longest eclipse of the 21st century will occur on July 22, 2009 and last 6 min 39 sec.

If the date and time of any solar eclipse are known, it is possible to predict other eclipses using eclipse cycles. Two such cycles are the Saros and the Inex. The Saros cycle is probably the best known, and one of the most accurate, eclipse cycles. The Inex cycle is itself a poor cycle, but it is very convenient in the classification of eclipse cycles. After a Saros cycle finishes, a new Saros cycle begins one Inex later, hence its name: in-ex. A Saros cycle lasts 6,585.3 days (a little over 18 years), which means that after this period a practically identical eclipse will occur. The most notable difference will be a shift of 120° in longitude (due to the 0.3 days) and a little in latitude. A Saros series always starts with a partial eclipse near one of Earth's polar regions, then shifts over the globe through a series of annular or total eclipses, and ends at the opposite polar region. A Saros (series) lasts 1226 to 1550 years and 69 to 87 eclipses, with about 40 to 60 central.^[14]

Geometry

Diagram of solar eclipse (not to scale).

The diagram to the right shows the alignment of the Sun, Moon and Earth during a solar eclipse. The dark gray region below the Moon is the umbra, where the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon. The small area where the umbra touches the Earth's surface is where a total eclipse can be seen. The larger light gray area is the penumbra, in which only a partial eclipse can be seen.

The Moon's orbit around the Earth is inclined at an angle of just over 5 degrees to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun (the ecliptic). Because of this, at the time of a new moon, the Moon will usually pass above or below the Sun. A solar eclipse can occur only when the new moon occurs close to one of the points (known as nodes) where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic.

As noted above, the Moon's orbit is also elliptical. The Moon's distance from the Earth can vary by about 6% from its average value. Therefore, the Moon's apparent size varies with its distance from the Earth, and it is this effect that leads to the difference between total and annular eclipses. The distance of the Earth from the Sun also varies during the year, but this is a smaller effect. On average, the Moon appears to be slightly smaller than the Sun, so the majority (about 60%) of central eclipses are annular. It is only when the Moon is closer to the Earth than average (near its perigee) that a total eclipse occurs.^[6][7]

The Moon orbits the Earth in approximately 27.3 days, relative to a fixed frame of reference. This is known as the sidereal month. However, during one sidereal month, the Earth has revolved part way around the Sun, making the average time between one new moon and the next longer than the sidereal month: it is approximately 29.5 days. This is known as the synodic month, and corresponds to what is commonly called the lunar month.

A Total eclipse in the umbra.
B Annular eclipse in the antumbra.
C Partial eclipse in the penumbra

The Moon crosses from south to north of the ecliptic at its ascending node, and vice versa at its descending node. However, the nodes of the Moon's orbit are gradually moving in a retrograde motion, due to the action of the Sun's gravity on the Moon's motion, and they make a complete circuit every 18.6 years. This means that the time between each passage of the Moon through the ascending node is slightly shorter than the sidereal month. This period is called the draconic month.

Finally, the Moon's perigee is moving forwards in its orbit, and makes a complete circuit in about 9 years. The time between one perigee and the next is known as the anomalistic month.

The Moon's orbit intersects with the ecliptic at the two nodes that are 180 degrees apart. Therefore, the new moon occurs close to the nodes at two periods of the year approximately six months apart, and there will always be at least one solar eclipse during these periods. Sometimes the new moon occurs close enough to a node during two consecutive months. This means that in any given year, there will always be at least two solar eclipses, and there can be as many as five. However, some are visible only as partial eclipses, because the umbra passes above Earth's north or south pole, and others are central only in remote regions of the Arctic or Antarctic.^[8][9]

Terminology

Central eclipse is often used as a generic term for a total, annular, or hybrid eclipse. This is, however, not completely correct: the definition of a central eclipse is an eclipse during which the central line of the umbra touches the Earth's surface. It is possible, though extremely rare, that part of the umbra intersects with Earth (thus creating an annular or total eclipse), but not its central line. This is then called a non-central total or annular eclipse.^[5]

The term solar eclipse itself is strictly speaking a misnomer. The phenomenon of the Moon passing in front of the Sun is not an eclipse, but an occultation. Properly speaking, an eclipse occurs when one object passes into the shadow cast by another object. For example, when the Moon disappears at full moon by passing into Earth's shadow, the event is properly called a lunar eclipse. Therefore, technically, a solar eclipse actually amounts to an eclipse of the Earth.

four types of solar eclipses

Annular eclipse.

There are four types of solar eclipses:

• A total eclipse occurs when the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon. The intensely bright disk of the Sun is replaced by the dark silhouette of the Moon, and the much fainter corona is visible. During any one eclipse, totality is visible only from at most a narrow track on the surface of the Earth.
• An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the Moon.
• A hybrid eclipse is intermediate between a total and annular eclipse. At some points on the surface of the Earth it is visible as a total eclipse, whereas at others it is annular. Hybrid eclipses are rather rare.
• A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line, and the Moon only partially obscures the Sun. This phenomenon can usually be seen from a large part of the Earth outside of the track of an annular or total eclipse. However, some eclipses can only be seen as a partial eclipse, because the umbra never intersects the Earth's surface.

The match between the apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon during a total eclipse is a coincidence. The Sun's distance from the Earth is about 400 times the Moon's distance, and the Sun's diameter is about 400 times the Moon's diameter. Because these ratios are approximately the same, the sizes of the Sun and the Moon as seen from Earth appear to be approximately the same: about 0.5 degree of arc in angular measure.

Because the Moon's orbit around the Earth is an ellipse, as is the Earth's orbit around the Sun, the apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon vary.^[1][2] The magnitude of an eclipse is the ratio of the apparent size of the Moon to the apparent size of the Sun during an eclipse. An eclipse when the Moon is near its closest distance from the Earth (i.e., near its perigee) can be a total eclipse because the Moon will appear to be large enough to cover completely the Sun's bright disk, or photosphere; a total eclipse has a magnitude greater than 1. Conversely, an eclipse when the Moon is near its farthest distance from the Earth (i.e., near its apogee) can only be an annular eclipse because the Moon will appear to be slightly smaller than the Sun; the magnitude of an annular eclipse is less than 1. Slightly more solar eclipses are annular than total because, on average, the Moon lies too far from Earth to cover the Sun completely. A hybrid eclipse occurs when the magnitude of an eclipse is very close to 1: the eclipse will appear to be total at some locations on Earth and annular at other locations.^[3]

The Earth's orbit around the Sun is also elliptical, so the Earth's distance from the Sun varies throughout the year. This also affects the apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon, but not so much as the Moon's varying distance from the Earth. When the Earth approaches its farthest distance from the Sun (the aphelion) in July, this tends to favor a total eclipse. As the Earth approaches its closest distance from the Sun (the perihelion) in January, this tends to favor an annular eclipse.

Solar eclipse

This article is about the astronomical phenomenon. For the video game, see Solar Eclipse (video game).

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is wholly or partially obscured. This can only happen during a new moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction as seen from the Earth. At least two and up to five solar eclipses occur each year on Earth, with between zero and two of them being total eclipses.^{[citation needed]} Total solar eclipses are nevertheless rare at any location because during each eclipse totality exists only along a narrow corridor in the relatively tiny area of the Moon's umbra.

A total solar eclipse is a spectacular natural phenomenon and many people travel to remote locations to observe one. The 1999 total eclipse in Europe helped to increase public awareness of the phenomenon, as illustrated by the number of journeys made specifically to witness the 2005 annular eclipse and the 2006 total eclipse. The most recent solar eclipse occurred on August 1, 2008, and was a total eclipse.

In ancient times, and in some cultures today, solar eclipses have been attributed to supernatural causes. Total solar eclipses can be frightening for people who are unaware of their astronomical explanation, as the Sun seems to disappear in the middle of the day and the sky darkens in a matter of minutes.

Geometry of a Total Solar Eclipse (not to scale).

Photo of 1999 total eclipse.