What is an Eclipse?

Have you ever witnessed an eclipse? An eclipse means loss of light.   There are two different types of eclipse. The first type of eclipse is a lunar eclipse which is an eclipse with the Moon. The other is called a solar eclipse an eclipse with the Sun.

Solar eclipse

The Moon orbits the Earth and the Earth orbits the Sun. Every so often there comes a point in time when the Moon sits in the path of light between the Earth and the Sun. When this happens it is called a solar eclipse. The temperature on Earth will drop as a result of light being blocked by the moon. Also, it becomes quite dark during a solar eclipse and, special eye protection is needed to see a solar eclipse.

Lunar eclipse

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind Earth. It only occurs when the Sun, Earth and the Moon are aligned exactly or very closely with Earth in the middle. Hence lunar eclipse only occurs at full Moon. The type and length of an eclipse depends upon the Moon's location. A lunar eclipse may be viewed with no eye protection.

A solar eclipse happens at day and only at New Moon. A lunar eclipse happens at night and only at Full Moon.

By Solomon.H

Aurora Australis

Have you ever witnessed nature’s light show dancing across the night sky? This colourful display is often referred to and known as ‘The Southern Lights’. What causes this spectacular illumination, Aurora Australis?

Solar flares comes off the sun everyday. A solar flare is an  ejection of cloud filled with electrons, ions and atoms. These travel into space and go towards Earth.

Earth has a magnetic field around it. The magnetic field acts as an invisible shield for Earth. The particles from the solar flare hit Earth’s magnetic field. Earth's magnetic field directs the ions to the North and South Poles.

The ions accelerate. The ions collide with other particles in our atmosphere. The ions and the different particles release the energy in the form of light.

The two aurorae are really beautiful, especially at night. There are two names for these beautiful lights they are the Aurora Australis and Aurora Borealis.

By Solomon.H