Comment due April 7
You may have heard that we will have a solar eclipse in the afternoon on Monday, April 8. Solar eclipses don’t happen all that often, so this is pretty special. While New York City is outside the path of totality (where the moon will totally block the sun), we still can expect the moon to cover about 90% of the sun.
It is very important never to look at the sun during a solar eclipse… doing so can severely damage your eyesight!
In anticipation of the solar eclipse, you’ll complete a short activity to help you understand the geometry of solar eclipses.
Watch the short animation above and the two short videos linked here. Then on your own piece of paper, set up and complete the three tables in the Modeling an eclipse section here. You’ll need:
- 1 sheet of 8.5 x 11 graph paper
- 2 disks approximately the size of a quarter, one to represent the Sun and one to represent the Moon at perigee
- One disk approximately the size of a nickel, to represent the Moon at apogee
- Pencil
- Ruler
After you have completed the activity, record your results in a comment below (state at which points (si, mj) where a total or partial solar eclipse occurs). Then include answers to reflection questions like:
- Have you ever completed an activity to understand solar eclipses before? Did this activity help you understand why we sometimes have solar eclipses and sometimes don’t?
- Are you familiar with the difference between solar eclipses and lunar eclipses?
- Do you plan to try to see the eclipse on April 8? Do you have a plan to protect your eyes?
- Do you have any funny or interesting stories about seeing an eclipse?
- Can you imagine what it would be like for a person living in an ancient civilization to experience a solar eclipse? How do you think they would have felt?
From the activity, I found that the total solar eclipse occurs only at (s3,m3) at perigee moon. Partical solar eclipses occur at (s2,m2), (s4,m4) for both perigee and agopee moon, (s3,m3) for agopee moon, and (s1,m2), (s2,m3), (s3,m4), (s4,m5) for perigee moon.
I haven’t did such activity about solar eclipse before, so this activity help me understand that a total solar eclipse won’t occurs often. I know the different between a solar eclipse and lunar eclipse, which a solar eclipse is the moon in beteen the sun and the earth, while a lunar eclipse it the earth in between the sun and the moon. I may gonna miss the solar sclipse in April 8 because I have class schedule for the whole day, and I don’t have the eye protection I have only sunglasses.