Page 245 - New Medley 5 Semester 2

Let us do an activity to understand how solar eclipse occurs.

• Analysing
Activity

To show how an eclipse occurs
 Take a big ball and put it on a table. Hold a torch on the
left of the ball.
 Take a small ball and tie a sling around it.
 Suspend it between the torch and the big ball.

 Switch on the torch and adjust the small ball till it casts
a shadow on the big ball.
You have made a solar eclipse. Here, the torch behaves as
the sun, small ball as the moon and big ball as the earth.

Solar eclipses can either be partial or total.

 e partial solar eclipse occurs when Corona of the sun
the moon does not cover it completely.

 e total solar eclipse occurs when
the moon covers the sun completely. Sun Moon Sun

During a total solar eclipse, the sky Moon
appears as dark as night. e bright

outer part of sun’s atmosphere, called
the corona can be seen around the Partial solar eclipse Total solar eclipse

dark part of the sun.

Lunar Eclipse
When the earth comes between the sun and the moon, the light from the sun

to the moon is blocked and the shadow of the earth falls on the moon due to

which the moon appears darkened. is is called lunar eclipse.

Sun Earth Moon

Diagram showing lunar eclipse

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