What makes a solar eclipse so rare?
• We are able to see something when light is emitted or reflected off an object into our eyes. An object appears “dark” if less light reflects from an object and into our eyes. A shadow forms when light is blocked by an opaque object. • The moon and earth cycle through a revolution and rotation. Earth’s revolution around the sun in 365 days makes up one year. The 24 rotation makes up one day. The moon’s revolution and rotation are the same and take roughly 28 days. Time intervals used by humans are roughly based on these cycles. • The phases of the moon are created by the relative position of the moon to the Earth and the Sun.These phases each have names. • Eclipses form when the moon’s shadows fall on the Earth or the Earth’s shadow falls on the moon. These do not occur often due to the scale of the earth and moon to the sun and a slight tilt to the moon’s orbit. • To effectively use an astronomical model you need to take into account the scale and perspective for the model.
