Eclipses Explained
How the Moon Causes A Solar Eclipse
| Monday April 8, 2024 Totality at 3:13 P.M. | |
|---|---|
| Partial phase begins (ingress) | 1:59 P.M. |
| Totality (100% eclipse) | 3:13 P.M. |
| Partial phase begins (egress) | 3:17 P.M. |
| Eclipse ends | 4:29 P.M. |
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Watch the Video and Read the Accompanying Description
So what exactly IS an eclipse anyway?
Generally speaking, an eclipse happens when the shadow of a celestial body falls onto another.
A
lunar eclipse happens at the Full Moon in certain months of the year when the Moon passes through the shadow of the Earth, so that the face of the Moon becomes obscured. Everyone on the nighttime hemisphere of the Earth can see it.
A solar eclipse occurs at the New Moon in certain months when the shadow of the Moon passes over the Earth, so that the face of the Sun becomes obscured. The Moon’s shadow passes over a certain area of the daytime hemisphere of the Earth, which is only where the eclipse can be seen.
The Moon has an
umbra
or full shadow, and a
penumbra, or a partial shadow. The umbra is the full 100% shadow of the Moon, so it is only within the umbra that
totality is visible.
The penumbra is the fuzzy edge of the full shadow. All regular shadows also have a fuzzy edge, but the farther away the shadow, the fuzzier the edge. For example, a telephone pole or other tall object has a sharp shadow at the base which gets fuzzier toward the top. Try to notice this sometime.
There are not many things as far away as the Moon is from the Earth in space, so the Moon’s edge is
so fuzzy
that there’s more fuzziness than full shadow. Within the fuzzy penumbra, a
partial phase of solar eclipse is visible where the Moon blocks a portion of the Sun.
The
umbra is a tapered cone of full shadow that ends with only a small dot in the middle of the huge penumbra. The umbra is only about 124 miles wide
during the 2024 eclipse, while the penumbra is as large as the entire North American continent!
There are three basic types of solar eclipses:
A
total solar eclipse happens when the Moon’s umbra touches down on the surface of Planet Earth. This happens when the Moon is close to
perigee, or the closest point in its orbit to the Earth. This is the same as a
supermoon.
During a total eclipse of the Sun, solar filters such as
Eclipse Shades are required during
ingress (the partial eclipse
phase before totality) and
egress (the partial eclipse
phase after totality). But during totality itself, you
MUST remove your Shades to see the most spectacular natural phenomenon visible from Planet Earth! If you leave them on, you’ll miss the whole thing!
While a total solar eclipse happens somewhere in the world every few years, it is very rare for it to happen at any particular location. A total solar eclipse only occurs in a specific place every 343 years on average! This is why Cleveland will only have 3 in a 638 year period – in 1806, 2024, and 2444! (The next one after that will be in 2866, but who’s counting?)
An
annular eclipse is more common than a total solar eclipse but less famous. These happen when the Moon is far from perigee so that the umbra fails to reach the Earth’s surface. An annular eclipse is pretty much all penumbra, since the Moon never fully covers the Sun. Solar filters such as
Eclipse Shades are required for the entire eclipse event. The partial phase of ingress gets deeper until the Sun becomes a “ring of fire” at
annularity, when the smaller Moon is centered over the larger Sun. Then there is a partial phase of egress. The last annular eclipse over Cleveland was on May 10, 1994. An annular eclipse is an interesting enough sight to see but it is not as
jaw-droppingly spectacular as a total eclipse of the sun.
A partial solar eclipse event is not to be confused with the partial phase of a total or annular eclipse. Got it? (I know, right? This terminology gets confusing! What do you expect, it was made up by scientists!) A partial solar eclipse happens when the umbra misses the Earth altogether and only a portion of the penumbra passes over the Earth.
These are interesting enough, better than nothing, but kind of a let-down because the eclipse never quite gets there. The Moon sort of slides off from the Sun without a climax. It’s over before it’s done getting started and arrives too soon at the finish line.
Eclipse Shades are required to view the partial eclipse, and you probably wouldn't even know it was happening without them.
Cleveland witnessed partial solar eclipse events in 1993, 2000 and 2014. However, Cleveland observed the partial eclipse
phase of total solar eclipses in 1991, 1998, and 2017, and the partial
phase of annular eclipses in 2001, 2002, 2012, and 2021.
The Total Solar Eclipse of Monday, April 8, 2024
As the Moon passes through its orbit, the umbra casts a path of totality over the Earth. It is only along this path that a total eclipse of the Sun can be seen.
The Moon’s umbra will sweep across the Earth from Mexico into Texas, heading northeast across the USA at a speed of about
2200 miles per hour, silently hitting Cleveland at more than 2 ½ times the speed of sound! Thus, the 124 mile wide umbra will pass over Public Square in only
3 minutes and 50 seconds!
Cleveland is one of many big cities along the path of totality, including Dallas, Little Rock, Indianapolis, Akron, Erie, Buffalo, Rochester and Montreal. But of all those places, Cleveland is closely located to the centerline of the path of totality and will therefore have a longer duration of totality than many other locations.
A partial phase of solar eclipse will be seen that day everywhere else in North America outside the path of totality, across the USA, Mexico and Canada. But the closer a location is to the path of totality, the less fuzzy the penumbra, and therefore the deeper the partial eclipse.
Totality over Ohio will pass over the cities of Akron, Cleveland, Dayton and Toledo. However, totality will NOT pass over the cities of Canton, Cincinnati, Columbus and Youngstown, where only a 99% partial eclipse will be visible.
So what can you expect to see during the
Eclipse Over Cleveland on Monday, April 8, 2024? Visit
The Eclipse Experience.
The Annular Eclipse of Saturday, October 14, 2023
There will be an annular eclipse over the USA on Saturday, October 14, 2023. This will be the “warm-up act” for the Eclipse Over Cleveland the next spring! A shallow phase of partial eclipse will be visible from Cleveland that day. Again, this will be an interesting sight but not jaw-droppingly spectacular like the total solar eclipse of Monday, April 8, 2024! But make sure you’re prepared with your Eclipse Shades for that day! And then keep them in a safe place until Eclipse Day 2024!
Over Cleveland (and many places in Ohio), the partial phase will begin at 11:29 AM and increase to a maximum phase of 32% at 1:08 PM, and then decreasing until the end at 2:29 PM.
Follow this
link
for more information about viewing the annular eclipse of 2023 from every location.
* * * * *
Good Planning Includes Ordering Eclipse Shades!
Don’t wait! Demand will spike as Eclipse Day 2024 approaches. Beat the rush and order your Shades early, for you and your friends and family!
Commemorative design! Collector’s item!
Includes the times of eclipse phases and instructions for viewing from Cleveland.
Made in the USA!
These are the real thing! They're NOT those unsafe eclipse glasses sold on that big tech online seller site during the 2017 eclipse!
Eclipse Over Cleveland is an approved Distributor of Safe Solar Filters & Viewers by the American Astronomical Society.
Eclipse Shades are produced by Rainbow Symphony, an approved Manufacturer of Safe Solar Filters & Viewers
Eclipse Shades are CE certified, meets the requirement for ISO 12312-2:2015
“Filters for direct observation of the sun”
BUY ECLIPSE SHADES FROM THESE LOCAL RETAILERS!
Visit the following retail establishments around the Cleveland area!
Mac's Backs - 1820 Coventry Rd, Cleveland Heights, 216-321-2665
West Side
Sixth City Cycles - 4274 Pearl Rd, Old Brooklyn, 216-282-7794
B & L Comics - 5591 Ridge Rd, Parma, 440-886-3077
Eye Optical Inc. - 5249 Broadview Rd, Parma, 216-351-7400
