Ages

Introduction

Summary

Not to scale !
The Moon's orbit around Earth is tilted. That is why the Moon is above or below our line of sight to the Sun, making an eclipse impossible most of the time.
When the three bodies line up just right, which only happens when the Moon is in the proper point in its orbital plane, an eclipse becomes possible. These proper points are the ones shown in positions 1 and 3.

Goals

• To illustrate the alignments necessary  for an  eclipse to occur (nodal points).
• To illustrate the dynamics of the Sun/Earth/Moon system.

Features

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Tags

umbra phase eclipse node sun solar earth moon conjonction shadow