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EXPLORINGTHESOLARSYSTEM SolarEclipse Trythis! 1 Onasunnyday,youcanmakeamodel ofaneclipseoutside! Tip:Youcanalsodothisactivityinadimroom,usinga flashlight(insteadoftheSun)asyourlightsource. 2 3 HoldthetoyMoonandtaketwobig stepsbackfromtheEarthball.Position theMooninbetweenthelightsource andthebigglobe.LineuptheMoonso itcastsashadowontheEarth. Lookcarefullyattheshadow.Areall partsofitequallydark?Doesitcover thewholeEarth? NowtrymakingtheMoon’sshadow moveacrosstheEarth.You’remakinga modelofthepathofasolareclipse! Duringarealeclipse,whatdoyouthink peopleseewhentheylooktowardthe Sun? AsolareclipseoccurswhentheMoonmovesbetween theSunandEarth,castingashadowonEarth. Asolareclipseisarareandbeautifulevent.Ina totalsolareclipse,theMooncompletelyblocks theSun.IntheplaceswheretheMoon’sshadow fallsonEarth,itgetsdarkandcool.Earthisthe onlyplaceintheentiresolarsystemwherea totalsolareclipseoccurs! Alltheplanetsinoursolarsystem,including Earth,areconstantlyorbitingtheSun.Atthe sametime,theMoonisorbitingEarth.Every onceinawhile,theSun,Earth,andMoonline upjustrightsothattheMoonispositioned directlybetweentheSunandEarth. Duringatotalsolareclipse,the MooncastsashadowonEarth. ButtheSunis400timesbiggerthantheMoon,sohowcantheMoonpossibly covertheentireSun?TheSunalsohappenstobeabout400timesfartheraway fromEarththantheMoonis.Asaresultofthisamazingcoincidence,theSunand Moonappeartobeaboutthesamesize.SinceEarthistheonlyplanetwitha moonthatisthesameapparentsizeastheSun,it’stheonlyplaceinthesolar systemwhereatotalsolareclipsecanhappen. Peoplehaveobservedandtriedtoexplainsolar eclipsesforthousandsofyears.Forexample,an ancientChineserecordnotesasolareclipsethat occurredinOctober2134BCE,andanancient GreekaccountnotesaneclipseinApril648BCE. Today,weknowwhysolareclipseshappen,and wecanpredictwhenandwherethey’lloccur. Duringatotalsolareclipse,the lightfromtheSuniscompletely blockedbytheMoon. Scientistsarestudyingthe2017solareclipse fromEarthandspace,andpeopleacrossthe UnitedStatescanexperiencethisawe-inspiring event.Safetynote:It’simportanttobecareful andprotectyoureyeswhenyouwatchasolar eclipse.
