THE SUN

INSIDE THE SUN

SUN's SURFACE

SUN's ATMOSPHERE

ECLIPSES OF THE SUN

MEASURE OF THE STARS

VARIABLE STARS

HOW FAR ARE THE STARS?

PROPERTIES OF STARS

In its 27 – days orbit of the Earth, the Moon sometimes passes directly in front of the Sun and we see a solar eclipse. In one of the natural world’s most eerie, beautiful spectacles, the dark circle of the Moon gradually creeps over the Sun. Between two and five solar eclipeses are visible from somewhere on the Earth each year. Partial eclipses, when only a portion of the Sun is covered by the Moon, are visible over a wide area. Total eclipses, when the Sun is completely hidden, can be seen from only a narrow regionof the Earth’s surface.

TOTAL ECLIPSE

The Moon appears nearly the same size as the Sun in the sky and covers it almost exactly when the two line up. The Sun disappears, the sky darkens, the stars come out, and the Sun’s pink chromosphere and milky – white corona shine from around the Moon’s disc. The period of totalitl, when the Sun is obscured, depends on the Moon’s distance from the Earth; the closer the Moon is, the longer the eclipse lasts. Total eclipses occur fairly regularly, but any one plase experriences a total eclipse only about anece every 360 years.