Start here

An eclipse is only a shadow. It needs the Sun, Earth and the Moon.

This is Chapter 12 in your NCERT book.

Its name is Earth, Moon, and the Sun.

What this track covers

• Two motions at once. Earth spins. It also goes round the Sun.
• The Moon's trip. One face of it always points at us.
• Three in a line. One ball can shade another.
• The Moon's shadow on Earth. It is a small dark patch.
• Earth's shadow on the Moon. The same idea, with the order swapped.
• Why not every month. The three are usually not in a line.
• Watching safely. One eclipse is safe to watch. The other is not.
• The Sun seems to move. Earth is turning.
• Day here, night there. The east is lit first.
• The Pole Star. One star stays still while the rest circle it.
• The night sky through the year. Earth goes round the Sun.
• The tilt and the seasons. Summer and winter come from the tilt.
• Longest and shortest days. Two days a year: the longest, the shortest.

Need a quick catch-up?

Day and night is in Track Zero. Kinds of motion is in Measurement. The Moon is in Beyond Earth. Shadows are in Light.

One rule before anything else

Never look straight at the Sun. Not through sunglasses. Not through binoculars or a telescope. The safe ways are in this track.