space famous phenomena
Eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets between Earth and the sun, and the moon casts a shadow over Earth. A solar eclipse can only take place at the phase of new moon, when the moon passes directly between the sun and Earth and its shadows fall upon Earth’s surface. But whether the alignment produces a total solar eclipse, a partial solar eclipse or an annular solar eclipse depends on several factors.
Total solar eclipse
These are a happy accident of nature. The sun's 864,000-mile diameter is fully 400 times greater than that of our puny moon, which measures just 2,160 miles. But the moon also happens to be about 400 times closer to the sun than the Earth (the ratio varies as both orbits are elliptical), and as a result , when the orbital planes intersect and the distances align favorably, the new moon can appear to completely blot out the disk of the sun.