How Does a Total Solar Eclipse Work?
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon completely covers the sun, as seen from earth. Total solar eclipses happen because the sun is near one of the nodes of the lunar orbit, and the moon is at perigee (the point in the orbit of the moon or a satellite at which it is nearest to the earth) at this node at the same time. During totality the photosphere, a blindingly bright surface of the sun that is visible on a sunny day, is hidden and allows other normally invisible features of the sun to be seen. Surrounding the photosphere is a thin, deep red layer of the sun called the chromosphere. Measuring a few thousand kilometers thick, the chromosphere is seen for only a few seconds at the beginning and end of totality. Flame-like prominences from behind the moon’s silhouette stretch for thousands of kilometers into space. The white corona encircles the eclipsed sun and extends the sun’s diameter several times. Timing and location are important to view a total solar eclipse. By the time it
