

A solar eclipse always occurs during a new moon. In a solar eclipse the Sun is being blocked–this happens when the Moon perfectly crosses between Earth and the Sun.To understand each type of eclipse, you must determine whether the Sun or Moon is being blocked. There are two types of eclipse that we can see on Earth: solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. “ Illumination of Earth by Sun on the day of summer solstice in the northern hemisphere” by Przemyslaw “Blueshade” Idzkiewicz is licensed under CC BY SA-2.0Įclipses happen when light is blocked. “ Illumination of Earth by Sun on the day of summer solstice in the northern hemisphere” by Przemyslaw “Blueshade” Idzkiewicz is licensed under CC BY SA-2.0 Summer Solstice The Summer Solstice (the day with the most sunlight, usually around June 21) occurs when the Tropic of Cancer (the northern tropic line) is in line with the Sun. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice (the day with the least sunlight, usually around December 21) occurs when the Tropic of Capricorn (the southern tropic line) is in line with the Sun. These days occur when one of the tropic lines are directly in line with the Sun. Solstices mark the days of the year in which a hemisphere receives the least amount of sunlight (aka the shortest day of the year) and the most amount of sunlight (aka the longest day of the year). “ Illumination of Earth by Sun on the day of equinox” by Przemyslaw “Blueshade” Idzkiewicz is licensed under CC BY SA-2.0 The Spring Equinox happens around March 20th and the Autumn Equinox happens around September 23rd each year.

This equal amount of sunlight occurs when the Equator is directly in line with the Sun.

Equinoxes (which sounds like the word equal) mark the day in which all of Earth receives an equal amount of sunlight–12 hours. There are 2 equinoxes and 2 solstices per year – Spring Equinox, Autumn Equinox, Winter Solstice, and Summer Solstice.
HELIO WORDS MEANING SUN FOR FREE
Note: All Khan Academy content is available for free at. Video credit: “ The Moon” by Khan Academy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

Where are the Moon, Sun, and Earth in relation to each other for the different Moon phases?įor further explanation of the Moon’s phases, watch the following video. “ Moon Phases from Earth” by pmonaghan is licensed under CC-By-NC-ND 2.0 The image, below, shows the Moon’s phases.
HELIO WORDS MEANING SUN FULL
After reaching a full moon, the Moon wanes or grows smaller for the second of the cycle. Full : All of the Moon’s face is visible from Earthįor the first half of this cycle, the visible part of the Moon waxes or grows larger.Gibbous : Between a quarter moon and a full moon.Quarter : From Earth, we can see half of the moon’s face which is a quarter of the entire moon.Crescent: Between a new moon and a quarter moon.New: The Moon’s face is not visible from Earth.In 1822, the Church eventually accepted the theory of heliocentrism once there was enough scientific evidence to claim it as truth. For these reasons, the Church put Galileo on trial, convicted him of heresy, and sentenced him to house arrest for the remainder of his life. Galileo’s claims were scandalous in their eyes because heliocentrism directly conflicted with certain biblical passages. During this period, a case could still technically be made for geocentrism until technology advanced enough for scientists to discover more evidence supporting heliocentrism.Īdditionally, the Church had certain clergy who interpreted parts of the Bible very literally, as if it were a science textbook rather than a theological work. Despite these new discoveries, however, there was still significant pushback against heliocentrism, particularly from the Catholic Church.Īt the time, the Church defended its stance on geocentrism because it believed Galileo’s discoveries left too many questions unanswered and did not explicitly prove heliocentrism. Additionally, Galileo made a variety of discoveries about our solar system that disproved the geocentric model of the universe. A generation later, the Sun-centered theory became more commonly accepted when Galileo invented the telescope in 1609, making it easier to observe space. Throughout Copernicus’ lifetime, the scientific community widely denied the theory of heliocentrism. During the Renaissance in the 1500s, Copernicus popularized the concept of heliocentrism–the theory that the Sun is at the center of the universe and Earth orbits the Sun. In early times, humans believed in geocentrism–the theory that Earth is at the center of the solar system, and the Sun and other planets revolve around it. 11 Sun, Earth, and the Moon Formative Assessment: Sun, Earth and the Moon
