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Definition: eclipse from Astronomy Encyclopedia

Passage of one body through the shadow cast by another. A LUNAR ECLIPSE , where the Moon passes through Earth's shadow, is a good example. The Galilean satellites undergo eclipses in Jupiter's shadow: at certain times, twice in a jovian year, the orbits of the satellites align with the Sun such that one may eclipse another. Strictly speaking, a SOLAR ECLIPSE is an OCCULTATION , and the Moon's shadow covers only a relatively small part of the Earth's surface.


eclipse

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(ēklĭps', ĭ–) [Gr.,=failing], in astronomy, partial or total obscuring of one celestial body by the shadow of another. Best known are the lunar eclipses, which occur when the earth blocks the sun's light from the moon, and solar eclipses, occurring when the moon blocks the sun's light from a small portion of the earth. Occasionally a double or binary star system is aligned so that one star eclipses the other as seen from the earth; these stars are known as eclipsing binaries. Also important to science have been the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites; in 1675 the Danish astronomer Ole Roemer used these eclipses to calculate the speed of light. Observations of starlight passing near the sun during the 1919 solar eclipse were of particular value in validating Einstein's general theory of relativity. Since the earth and moon shine only by the reflected light of the sun, each casts a shadow into space in the direction away from the sun. The shadow consists of a cone-shaped area of darkness…
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Full text Article When the sun goes dark: 5 questions answered about the solar eclipse (Mar. 2018)

From The Conversation: An Independent Source of Analysis from Academic Researchers
Editor’s note: A total solar eclipse will be visible across the U.S. on Monday, August 21. Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University, explains why and how it happens, and what we can learn from an eclipse. How do we know when an eclipse is going to happen? How…
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Full text Article eclipse

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
Eclipse: (a) solar and lunar eclipses; (b) lunar...
The total or partial obscuration of light from a celestial body as it passes through the shadow of another body. A planetary satellite is eclipsed when it passes through the shadow of its primary or another satellite. An eclipse of the Sun is strictly an occultation . An eclipse of the Sun – a solar…
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Full text Article eclipse

From The Penguin Dictionary of Physics
Any of a number of astronomical phenomena resulting from the alignment of heavenly bodies. A planet, star, or satellite may pass behind the moon or a planet and so not be visible from earth. This is called an occultation . Venus and Mercury pass across the disc of the sun at irregular intervals, and…
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Full text Article eclipse

From Philip's Encyclopedia
When the Moon passes between the Sun and the...
In astronomy, partial or total obscuration of the light from one celestial body as it passes behind another body: the most familiar are lunar and solar eclipses. Within any year, a maximum of seven eclipses can occur, either four solar and three lunar or five solar and two lunar. A solar eclipse…
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Full text Article eclipse

From Word Origins
From the point of view of the observer, an object which has been eclipsed has ‘gone away’ - is no longer there. And that in fact is the etymological foundation of the word. It comes, via Old French and Latin, from Greek ékleipsis , a derivative of ekleípein ‘no longer appear or be present’. This was…
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Full text Article ECLIPSE

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
English mathematician and astronomer, Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881 …the general phenomenon [total eclipse] is perhaps the most awfully grand which man can witness. On the Total Eclipse of 1851 Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Volume 51 April, 1851 (p. 76 ). …during a total eclipse we are…
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From The Macquarie Dictionary
a. Astronomy the obscuration of the light of a satellite by the intervention of its primary planet between it and the sun, as in a lunar eclipse when the moon is partially or wholly within the earth's shadow. Plural: eclipses b. Astronomy the interception of the light of the sun by the intervention…
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From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Eclipses of the Sun and Moon. A solar eclipse...
The passage of all or part of one celestial body into the shadow of another, the eclipsing body. Observers on Earth experience two major types—lunar eclipses and solar eclipses—each of which involves the Sun and the Moon. The type observed depends on whether Earth is the eclipsing body or the body…
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Full text Article eclipse

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Passage of one astronomical body through the shadow of another. The term is usually used for solar and lunar eclipses. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun (which can happen only at new Moon), the Moon blocking the Sun's rays and casting a shadow on the Earth's…
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This diagram shows the relative positions of the...
An eclipse is the partial or total blocking of the light of one object by another. In our solar system, the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, and Earth create solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. Total solar eclipses are particularly beautiful. Perfect alignments of the Sun, Moon, and Earth are…
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