Solar eclipse
Event wherein the Sun is obscured by the Moon
Summary
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season in its new moon phase, when the Moon's orbital plane is closest to the plane of Earth's orbit. In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. In partial and annular eclipses, only part of the Sun is obscured. Unlike a lunar eclipse, which may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth, a solar eclipse can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world. As such, although total solar eclipses occur somewhere on Earth every 18 months on average, they recur at any given place only once every 360 to 410 years.
Originally created by Andre Engels
10/18/2001, 4:41:15 PM
Modified
5/25/2026, 7:56:39 PM
Recent revisions
per [[WP:EL]]
Changing [[Wikipedia:Short description|short description]] from "Natural phenomenon wherein the Sun is obscured by the Moon" to "Event wherein the Sun is obscured by the Moon"
/* Recent and forthcoming solar eclipses */ kept two
/* Observations from space */
/* Central eclipse */ cap, quotes
/* Total eclipse */ added year in caption and added that 'Mars, Saturn and Mercury' appear in the photograph
/* 2022–2025 */ image
/* Eclipses and transits */ link
/* Eclipses and transits */ date
/* Artificial satellites */ uppercase per proper name and Wikipedia style (Earth)
/* Eclipses and transits */ edit (shouldn't say that this is only a theory and then follow it with two times it will occur)
/* Historical eclipses */ uppercase per direct link (Western Hemisphere)
/* Eclipse chasing */ uppercase per proper name and Wikipedia style (Sun)
/* Duration */ Adding an image of the total eclipse observed during Artemis II
/* Observations from space */ proofread
/* Observations from space */ spelling
/* Observations from space */ add
/* Artificial satellites */ Observations from space
spelling: occuring → occurring
