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Lesson 4 of 19

The Moon shades a patch of Earth

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6 min

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The Moon can come between the Sun and us. What do we see?

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The idea

New Moon is when the Moon is between the Sun and Earth. They are nearly in a row.
Step 1 of 4
  1. New Moon is when the Moon is between the Sun and Earth. They are nearly in a row.
  2. The Moon's shadow stretches out behind it.
  3. The shadow lands on Earth as a small dark patch.
  4. Only people inside that patch see the whole Sun covered.

The rule

We see the Moon hide some or all of the Sun.

In a solar eclipse the Moon is between the Sun and Earth. Its shadow lands on a small part of Earth.

  • Inside the dark patch, the whole Sun is hidden. That is a total solar eclipse.
  • Beside the patch, only part of the Sun is hidden. That is a partial solar eclipse.

The Moon is much smaller than the Sun. It is also much closer. So both look about the same size in the sky.

The patch moves across Earth. A total eclipse lasts only a few minutes at one place.

Try the lab to finish this lesson.