This picture shows the Sun, Moon, and Earth during an eclipse of the Sun.
Click on image for full size
Windows to the Universe original image
Eclipse of the Sun on May 31, 2003
News story originally written on June 6, 2003
An eclipse of the Sun could be seen from a small area on Earth on May 31, 2003. People in Scotland, Iceland, and Greenland had a chance to see the eclipse.
An eclipse of the Sun happens when the Moon moves between the Sun and the Earth. If you were in the right place to see an eclipse, you would see the Sun hide behind the Moon. This eclipse was a strange kind of eclipse. Sometimes the Moon looks a little smaller than usual because it is further away. That happened during this eclipse. The Moon didn't quite cover up the Sun the whole way.
Did you miss this eclipse? If so, there is another one later this year. But you may have to be a penguin to see it! The next eclipse of the Sun will be in November. The only place to see it will be in Antarctica!
You might also be interested in:
Astronomers have discovered twelve new moons of Jupiter so far this year. Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System. It has more moons than any other planet. Jupiter has 52 moons that we know about.
...more
On August 27, 2003, Earth and Mars will be very close together. Well, close for planets anyways. The two planets will still be almost 56 million kilometers (about 35 million miles) apart. They will be
...more
Astronomers have discovered nine new moons. The astronomers found eight new moons of Jupiter and one new moon of Saturn. Jupiter has 60 moons that we know about. Saturn has 31. All of the new moons are
...more
The planet Mercury crossed in front of the Sun on May 7, 2003. When that happens, astronomers call it a transit. A transit is like a solar eclipse. An eclipse happens when the Moon passes in front of the
...more
Did you know that the Sun has spots? Right now it has some very big spots. There are two groups of sunspots on the Sun right now. Each group is about as big as the planet Jupiter, which is the largest
...more
Astronomers have found another planet outside our solar system. That makes a total of 102 exoplanets that have been found so far! The astronomers that found the exoplanet, have been searching outside
...more
Have you ever wanted to see a picture of a star? How about 2 million pictures?! The Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)has put together all these images of stars for you to see! Just click on the link below
...more
Earth may look like a giant marble from space, but it is not exactly round! It is a little wider around the equator, like a tangerine. But Earth's shape does not stay the same! Scientists have been watching
...more
