The 8 types of eclipse (and how to recognize them)

The stars and their movements have been a source of amazement and veneration since ancient times. by the human being, often associating them with spirituality and religion. One of them celestial phenomena that have fascinated us the most because they are infrequent and impressive, and that have always contained great symbolism is that of eclipses.

Today it is already known how and why they are produced, although they still retain a certain romantic mysticism. Eclipses continue and will continue to happen in the future, in all their forms.

And is that there are different types of eclipse. In order to learn to identify them, throughout this article we are going to make a brief review of the main types that we can see from our planet.

• Related article: "Astrophobia (fear of the stars): symptoms, causes and treatment"

What is an eclipse?

An eclipse is understood as the celestial phenomenon in which at least three stars participate, and in which one one of them stands in the way and aligns with the other two in such a way that it hides one of them from view from the other.

Its occurrence is due to the orbit that the planets make around the stars, as well as that of the satellites around the planets, due to the gravitational force.

A meaning in mythology

As we have seen previously, the eclipse has historically been linked to the religious and spiritual, since the reasons why the stars disappear from sight or were partially hidden were not known.

For example, in Chinese mythology, eclipses occurred when a celestial dragon, dogs or even a toad devoured the Sun or the Moon, while the Egyptians saw in this celestial phenomenon the combat between Horus and Seth diodes (the loss of the star being the result of that the second will tear out an eye from the first, being later returned by Ra) or the sinking of the boat of Ra by the serpent god Apep.

Kingdoms such as Siam or India also considered that the stars were eaten by gods or dragons. Also in pre-Columbian civilizations they were feared, often making sacrifices to return the Sun or Moon to its place. The beliefs were many: from the star being devoured to the effect of fighting between deities. Likewise, the arrival of the Spaniards in South America happened just after a solar eclipse, something that helped them initially be taken by gods.

Types of eclipse

Although there are a large number of types of eclipse that can occur from any planet, those that affect us directly are of two types: solar and lunar. We can also find another type of eclipse, that of the planet Venus.

1. Solar eclipses

We call a solar eclipse that cosmic phenomenon in which the Moon interposes between the Sun and the Earth, causing the star king to not be visible from our planet. They are usually the most spectacular and the ones that have had the greatest significance for humanity. They should never be observed directly, since although the figure and the light of the Sun are not visible the radiation can affect us equally. We can find different types of solar eclipses.

1.1. Total

Total solar eclipses are called those in which the Moon completely covers the sunlight, totally blocking your view from Earth.

1.2. Partial

The partial solar eclipse occurs when only a part of the Moon aligns between Earth and Sun, being visible a part of the Sun while a portion of this remains blocked by our satelite.

1.3. Cancel

This type of solar eclipse occurs because although the Moon is interposed between the Earth and the Sun, blocking the vision of the second, its smaller size and the separation between the Moon and Earth. makes that although the solar disk is covered by the Moon, a ring of sunlight continues to be seen around it. The resulting vision would be the prototypical of the Moon with a ring and crown of light, as if the center of the Sun had turned black.

1.4. Hybrid

One of the rarest, the hybrid solar eclipse occurs when the alignment between the three bodies celestial causes that in different parts of the globe we can see a total eclipse while in others one partial.

2. Lunar eclipses

Lunar eclipses occur when there is an alignment between the Sun, Earth and Moon, placing our planet between the Sun and the Moon and blocking the passage of sunlight to our satellite. There are three main types of lunar eclipses.

2.1. Total

The total lunar eclipse occurs when our planet completely prevents sunlight from reaching the Moon. When it happens, the Moon progressively darkens until it completely disappears in the cone of shadow projected by the Earth. Shortly after, he returns little by little to meet again.

2.2. Partial

The partial lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon is not completely covered by the Earth or the cone of shadow cast by our planet does not completely obscure your vision.

2.3. Penumbral

In penumbral eclipses, the Moon is never covered by the cone of shadow that our planet projects when aligning itself between it and the Sun, although it does pass through the twilight zone. This makes although it remains visible its color darkens to a great extent.

2.4. Venusian eclipse: the transit of Venus

Although we do not usually consider it an eclipse, the truth is that it also other stars can interpose and align themselves between the Earth and the Sun. This is what happens with the so-called transit of Venus, in which our neighboring planet is located between the Sun and the Earth.

However, the great distance between the Earth and Venus compared to that existing with the Moon, in addition to the relatively small size of said planet compared to ours, makes this type of eclipse very little perceptible, just covering a small point of the Sun.

In addition, this type of eclipse is very rare, repeating itself in sequences: 105.5 years, then another at 8, then another at 121.5 years, and then another 8, in a 243-year cycle. The last was in 2012, and the next is expected to occur in 2117.