SOLAR ECLIPSES

On 11th August 1999, people were able to witness a total eclipse of the Sun from some areas on Earth. These happen for a couple seconds about six times every ten years. We know the Moon is in the sky at night because we can see it but, during the day, the Moon may still be in the sky above our position on Earth. The reason we cannot see it is because the light from the Sun is much brighter. Sometimes though, the Moon goes in front of the sun and when it is exactly in front of it, we get a total eclipse. The Sun is millions of times bigger than the Moon but, because the moon is much closer to Earth than the Sun is, both objects appear almost the same size from Earth. So when we get a total eclipse of the Sun, most of the light from the Sun is prevented from hitting us.

Unfortunately last year, the total eclipse was ruined in Britain because of the cloudy weather. The sky went darker and the temperature fell (this shows how much light and warmth the sun provides) but we could not actually see the ring of the sun. However, pictures taken from above the clouds reveal what we missed.

In this picture above, the whole of the Sun's disc is covered by the moon. We can see the corona of the Sun, or the Sun's atmosphere. It is during eclipses that we can see solar flares and prominences of the sun, which are flames leaping from the Sun's surface thousands of kilometres into space. It is dangerous at any time to look at the Sun, and it is only when the Sun is totally covered by the moon that it is safe to look at it. The only way to look at the Sun in safety is through special glasses with lens which allow only a small amount of light through them. By wearing these, it is just about impossible to see any other light other than the Sun. This shows us how bright the Sun really is.