Millions of people across the US, Mexico, and Canada are getting ready to witness a rare celestial event today- The Total Solar Eclipse. Total eclipses are unique and dramatic and turn the sky dark, but they are only visible from a few locations. This is why the opportunity to experience an eclipse is often called a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth and completely blocks the face of the Sun. It is the only type of solar eclipse where viewers can momentarily remove their eclipse glasses for this brief period when the Moon is completely blocking the Sun.
Notably, eclipses occur due to the special coincidence of the Moon and the Sun being the same angular size. The Sun is approximately 400 times wider than the Moon, but it is also approximately 400 times farther away, so they appear to be the same size in our sky. This is what allows the Moon to completely block the Sun during total solar eclipses.
Why don't eclipses happen every month?
While such celestial events are fascinating, enthusiasts always wonder why eclipses do not occur with every new and full moon. As per Space.com, new moons occur approximately once every month because that's roughly how long it takes for the moon to orbit Earth.
Then why doesn't Earth experience a solar eclipse every month? According to NASA, the Moon's orbit is slightly tilted relative to the Earth's orbit around the sun. It doesn't block out the sun on every orbit, that's why not every new moon results in a solar eclipse. The orbits of the Earth and the moon are out-of-sync and they only briefly align to form occasional eclipses, according to NASA.
If the Earth and moon orbited on the same plane around the sun, we would witness a solar eclipse during every new moon and a lunar eclipse during every full moon. But we don't, because the moon's orbit is inclined to Earth's orbit by about 5 degrees.
EarthSky explains: "If the moon orbited in the same plane as the ecliptic – Earth's orbital plane – we would have a minimum of two eclipses every month. There'd be an eclipse of the moon at every full moon."
NASA also explained this in a simple video.
Watch the video here:
According to the Indian Standard Time (IST), the total solar eclipse will begin at 9:12 pm on April 8, totality will start at 10:08 pm, and will end on April 9, 2024, at 2:22 am. The Pacific coast of Mexico will experience totality first, around 11:07 am PDT, and the occurrence will leave Maine at around 1:30 pm PDT.
