Total Solar Eclipse

[Gregory Matthews]

The following material has been gleaned from several articles in the August 2017 issue of Scientific American.  From time to time, as I review these articles, I may add additional material to the list that will follow. Some solar eclipses are total and some are not.  On the average, a solar eclipse occurs somewhere on Earth slightly less than every six (6) months.  Between 2017 and 3000 there is expected to be some 2,354 solar eclipses here on Earth.  a solar eclipse occurs when the Sum, Moon and Earth line up in a manner that the Moon blocks some light from the Sun.  It is a total eclipse when the line-up is in such a manner that the light from the Sun is totally blocked by the Moon.

*  The next total eclipse will occur on August 21, 2017. 

*  This total solar eclipse will occur on a narrow path that stretches from Oregon to South Carolina.  It will last for about seven (7) minutes.

*  A partial eclipse will begin in the Pacific Ocean, extend to Canada, Mexico, South America, North-Western Africa and Western Europe and then end over the Atlantic.  The partial eclipse will last for a much longer period of time.

*  A solar eclipse can occur only within a window of about 34.5 days.  This is called an Eclipse Season.

*  An Eclipse Season occurs about every 173.3 days.  This gives the Earth a potential eclipse about twice a year.

*   The  current expected solar eclipse occurs in what is known as a Sarous Cycle.   This cycle has an eclipse that occurs about every 18 years, 11.3 days.  NOTE:  In leap years the cycle is 18 years, 10.33 days.

* Each Eclipse Cycle lasts from 1,225 years to 1,550 years.  

NOTE:  If some of the above seems inconsistent, please read the articles for further information.