Marvels of Eclipses

Solar and lunar eclipses are fascinating, and scientists are especially fond of them. Especially solar eclipses, because they can do testing and observe things out yonder that cannot be seen under normal conditions. Those are more difficult to participate in because the area of totality is quite limited, unlike the wide area available during a lunar eclipse. As a side note, a transit is when a smaller object travels between a star and the observer, such as when Mercury and Venus transit the sun. No big crowed events for those, just wait for photos from experts instead.

Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

Conditions have to be just right for a major eclipse to occur. The moon passes in front of the sun and makes day seem to be almost night in certain areas for a few minutes. When Earth gets the notion to get between the sun and moon, so the moon appears red or orange for a while. These things happen because the Creator designed the corresponding distances of the sun, moon, and Earth. Just another reminder of his power, design skills, and of recent creation. People had a special experience during the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse.

From Oregon to South Carolina, people used special eclipse glasses to watch the moon slowly move in front of the sun over the course of about an hour, culminating in a few minutes of darkness during ‘totality’. The brief period where the moon completely blocks out the sun, leaving only the corona visible and resulting in what looks like twilight across the entire horizon. In the rest of the country, only a partial eclipse was visible.

To read the entire article (it's short, and not packed with heavy science), click on "Eclipses".