An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A solar eclipse in which the Moon is close the → apogee and is, therefore, too small to cover the whole disk of the Sun, leaving a visible edge or ring of sunlight. An annular eclipse can last for 12m 30s at the most. See also → total eclipse.

→ annular; → eclipse.

A solar eclipse that has both annular and total phases. Same as → hybrid eclipse.

→ annular; → total; → eclipse.

An eclipse (of the Sun or Moon) which takes place when the Moon is at the → apogee of its orbit. The solar apogee eclipses, when they are not partial, are always → annular. The maximum duration of an apogee solar eclipse is 6h 15m (between the → first contact and the → fourth contact). The maximum duration of a lunar apogee eclipse, between the two exterior contacts of the Moon with the → penumbra, is 6h 18m (the maximum totality being 1h 44m) (M.S.: SDE).

→ apogee; → eclipse.

An eclipse during which the axis of the lunar shadow cone intersects the Earth's surface (in the case of solar eclipses) or the axis of the terrestrial shadow cone intersects the Moon's surface (in the case of lunar eclipses). The total and annular solar eclipses are usually central. They can also be not central; then, they are visible only from places situated at high latitudes (M.S.: SDE).

The passage of the shadow of a celestial body over the surface of another. The maximum number of solar and lunar visible eclipses occurring annually is seven; the minimum number is two, both being solar. → Solar eclipses take place when the new Moon is close to an → orbital node and on the same longitude with the Sun. At that moment either the → umbra, → antumbra, or the → penumbra touches the Earth's surface. For an observer located in the umbra the eclipse is total, while for one placed in the antumbra it is annular. → Annular eclipses occur around lunar → apogee. An observer situated in the penumbra sees only a → partial eclipse. A total or annular eclipse can be seen from a band with a width of 270 km at the most, around which, the much larger partiality zone extends. The Moon's shadow crosses the Earth from west to east at about 3,200 km/h. During → total eclipses the Sun's disk is entirely covered and the → solar corona can be seen. A solar eclipse can last up to 3 h (between the first and the → fourth contacts). Totality has a theoretical maximum duration of 7m 31s, but it is usually shorter. A → lunar eclipse can be seen from any place on Earth where the Moon is above the horizon; it occurs when the full Moon passes through the central dark shadow of the Earth. The Earth's shadow is much wider than the Moon and this is why the lunar eclipses can last up to four hours (between the first and the fourth contact) (M.S.: SDE).

From O.Fr. éclipse, from L. eclipsis, from Gk. ekleipsis "a leaving out, forsaking, an eclipse," from ekleipein "to forsake a usual place, fail to appear, be eclipsed," from ek "out," → ex-, + leipein "to leave."

Gereft, past stem of gereftan "to obscure, close up; to take, seize, catch; to undergo an eclipse," from Mid.Pers. griftan, Av./O.Pers. grab- "to take, seize," cf. Skt. grah-, grabh- "to seize, take," graha "seizing, holding, perceiving" (see also → concept); cf. M.L.G. grabben "to grab;" E. grab "to take or grasp suddenly;" PIE base *ghrebh- "to seize".

The fraction of the Sun's diameter occulted by the Moon. It is strictly a ratio of diameters and should not be confused with → eclipse obscuration, which is a measure of the Sun's surface area occulted by the Moon. Eclipse magnitude may be expressed as either a percentage or a decimal fraction (e.g., 50% or 0.50). By convention, its value is given at the instant of → greatest eclipse (F. Espenak, NASA).

→ eclipse; → magnitude.

A method for imaging the continuum light distributions of the → accretion disks of → cataclysmic variable stars. It relies on geometrical information contained in eclipse light curves. An alternative method is → Doppler tomography.

→ eclipse; → mapping.

The fraction of the Sun's area occulted by the Moon. It should not be confused with → eclipse magnitude, which is the fraction of the Sun's diameter occulted by the Moon. Eclipse obscuration may be expressed as either a percentage or a decimal fraction (e.g., 50% or 0.50) (F. Espenak, NASA).

→ eclipse; obscuration, verbal noun from → obscure.

The period during which the Sun is close enough to one of the → lunar orbit nodes so that an eclipse can take place. This time window lasts for 37 days for → solar eclipses and almost 24 days for → lunar eclipses. These seasons occur every 173.31 days. Two eclipse seasons make up an → eclipse year.

→ eclipse; → season.

The interval of time (346.620 03 days) between two successive passages of the Sun through the same node of the Moon's orbit. It takes less than a solar year to complete an eclipse year because the Moon's orbit and the lunar nodes are slowly regressing.

→ eclipse; → year.

The instant when the axis of the Moon's → shadow cone passes closest to Earth's center. For → total eclipses, the instant of greatest eclipse is virtually identical to the instants of greatest magnitude and greatest duration. However, for → annular eclipses, the instant of greatest duration may occur at either the time of greatest eclipse or near the sunrise and sunset points of the eclipse path (F. Espenak, NASA).

Superlative of → great; → eclipse.

A type of → lunar eclipse that occurs when both the Sun and the eclipsed Moon can be observed at the same time. This is possible only when lunar eclipse occurs just before sunset or just after sunrise. At that case, both bodies will appear just above the horizon at nearly opposite points in the sky. Also called → selenelion and → selenehelion.

→ horizontal; → eclipse.

A rare type of solar eclipse where at some places the eclipse is annular while at other places it appears total. This duality comes about when the vertex of the Moon's umbral shadow pierces Earth's surface at some points, but falls short of the planet along other portions of the eclipse path. Hybrid eclipses are also known as → annular-total eclipses. In most cases, hybrid eclipses begin as annular, transform into total, and then revert back to annular before the end of their track. In rare instances, a hybrid eclipse may begin annular and end total, or vice versa (F. Espenak, NASA).

→ hybrid; → eclipse.

The → darkening of the → Moon which occurs when the Moon enters the → umbra of the → Earth's shadow. This phenomenon can occur only when the → full Moon is near one of the → lunar nodes of its → orbit around the Earth. There will be a → total eclipse if the entire Moon enters the umbra, otherwise the eclipse will be partial when the Moon is somewhat to the north or south of the node and does not cross the shadow entirely. During the eclipse the Moon looks more or less dark, depending especially on the transparency of the Earth's → atmosphere. The → refraction of Sun's light through the atmosphere sometimes gives a red color to the eclipsed Moon. Colored fringes can be seen around the shadow edge during → partial eclipses. Because an eclipse of the Moon is due to the cutting off of the Sun's light, it is visible from the entire hemisphere where the Moon is above the horizon. The maximum duration of a total lunar eclipse, when the Moon passes through the shadow centrally, is 1h 47m (M.S.: SDE).

→ lunar; → eclipse.

An eclipse that is not total. → partial lunar eclipse, → partial solar eclipse.

→ partial; → eclipse.

A → lunar eclipse when the Earth's → umbra passes over only part of the Moon, causing only moderate darkening of the full Moon. See also → penumbral lunar eclipse.

→ partial; → lunar; → eclipse.

A → solar eclipse when only the → penumbra of the Moon touches the Earth. The → umbra passes either just above the North Pole or just below the South Pole, missing the Earth.

→ partial; → solar; → eclipse.

A lunar eclipse that occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth's → penumbra, but misses the darker umbral shadow. Because the Moon is only partially dimmed, a penumbral eclipse is not impressive. Total penumbral eclipses are rare, and when these occur, that portion of the Moon which is closest to the umbra can appear somewhat darker than the rest of the Moon.

→ penumbral; → eclipse.

A solar or lunar eclipse that takes place when the Moon is at the → perigee of its orbit. The maximum duration of a solar perigee eclipse is 5h 14m (between first and the fourth contact). The maximum duration of a lunar perigee eclipse, between the two exterior contacts of the Moon with the penumbra, is 5h 16m, the maximum totality being 1h 40m (M.S.: DSE).

→ perigee; → eclipse.

Of a transiting → exoplanet, the event and the interval of time during which the planet passes in front of its host star. The planet occults a portion of the stellar disk, and a fraction of light from the star is seen after traversal through the atmosphere around the planet's limb. → secondary eclipse.

→ primary; → eclipse.