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What are you waiting for? Eclipses
Hello friends. In this educational video for kids we are going to learn about eclipses. There are two types of eclipses, a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse, but first of all, do you know what an eclipse is?
An eclipse occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily obscured. Sometimes the Earth is placed between the sun and the moon and other times the moon is situated between the Earth and the sun. These are eclipses… but let’s investigate it better.
The lunar eclipse is when the Earth is situated between the moon and the sun making the Earth block out the sun’s rays which would be shining on the moon, creating a shadow and darkening it. This phenomenon allows us to see the moon in a reddish color…almost as if it were bleeding.
Lunar eclipses are quite frequent and can be seen from any part of the world at night time. They last various hours and can be different types, though the most frequent ones are the partial lunar eclipse and the total lunar eclipse.
When there is an eclipse and it looks as if someone has taken a bite out of the moon, it is a partial eclipse, and when there is an eclipse and one can see the whole moon, it is a total eclipse. Easy don’t you think?
By the way, to observe a lunar eclipse one doesn’t need anything special, a normal telescope or binoculars would do.
Solar eclipses only occur when there is a new moon, and is seen when the moon is in between the Earth and the sun. The moon hides all the suns light or at least part of it.
Solar eclipses can be of different types: total, partial or annular.
A total solar eclipse is when the moon hides all of the suns light and the sun’s face disappears behind the moon. In the middle of the day, it would seem as if night has fallen. The sky darkens and stars appear. Many animals, think it’s night time and go to sleep, and nocturnal animals such as this owl, begin their day, actually their night, not understanding that in a short time the sun will reappear.
Partial solar eclipses occur when the moon comes between the Earth and the sun, but not completely, leaving part of the sun visible. The day becomes slightly darker and the sun resembles a cookie with a chunk missing.
An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon hides only the middle part of the sun. It is seen as a black circle surrounding a bright ring. It looks like a ring, doesn’t it?
By the way and this is really important, it is very dangerous to observe solar eclipses without special eye protection. Please remember this as it is extremely harmful.
Well now we know a little bit more about eclipses…don’t you think it is fascinating learning new things?
Goodbye friends, we hope you enjoyed this educational video for children about eclipses. Don’t forget to subscribe to Happy Learning TV, so you don’t miss any of our videos.