explanation of the solar eclipse?
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The moon gets in the way of our view of the sun.  Since coincidentally, the two disks (i.e., two-dimensional view of a sphere) have the same apparent size when viewed from the earth, the moon covers most of the sun, exposing the corona, which is normally invisible.  The corona is the thinner part of the sun which is not normally visible because of the glare from the main disc.\n\nHowever, here's an interesting question:  how far out in space would you have to be before looking at our sun (call him Sol), you would just see a bright star, and part of that star would be the earth?  That is, when we say "the solar system" to include ourselves and everything out to Pluto, an observer from far out in space would just say "Sol," and mean to include us.  Jefferson Starship sang, "We rode a bubble through the sun . . ."
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A is correct, the moon muct be full, meaning the earth is between the sun and moon.\n\nThe other condition necessary is that the moon must be on the ecliptic.  The orbital path of the moon is tilted five degrees from the ecliptic, which is the plane that holds the orbit of the earth about the sun.  If the moon is above or beow the ecliptic, then the earth's shadow will miss it.  In the summer and the winter, there are two times when the moon crosses this ecliptic.  If there's a full moon in that time, then ther's a good clance of a lunar eclipse.  If there's a new moon in that time, there's a good chance of a solar eclipse.
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There are two types of eclipses. Solar and lunar. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun.  A lunar eclipse is when the Earth casts it's shadow on the moon, basically the Earth passes between the sun and the moon.
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The U.S. is out of luck for this solar eclipse. And by the way...solar eclipses happen during DAYTIME only. Lunar eclipses happen at night.
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It's difficult to appreciate just how bright the sun is.  Even with the sun 90% covered by the moon, there isn't a strong change in the brightness at the earth's surface beneath it -- less than when the sun is covered by clouds.  Viewing less than 1% of the sun's surface with the naked eye can cause damage.  If you are looking at the sun up to the point of a total solar eclipse, you'll be looking at more than 1% of it until very close to totality.  Also, when the eclipse is finished, enough of the sun to cause eye damage becomes visible very quickly.  Even though it's safe to look at it when the eclipse is total, there isn't sufficient time on either end of totality to cover your eye in order to prevent damage.\n\nAlso, if you are only where the sun is partially covered, definitely do not look at the eclipse.  Use a pinhole camera, or other similar method.  See the link below for a list.  You wouldn't happen to be where you can see the solar eclipse this Wednesday, would you?
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Think of three balls in a gym.  a Basket ball, a golf ball, and a tennis ball.  Now think of the basket ball as being lit, its the biggest so we will pretend its the sun.  the earth would be the tennis ball, and the golf ball would be the moon.  well when the golf ball got between the sun and the earth it would create a cast shadow on the tennis ball, but its not big enough to put the entire tennis ball in shadow... that is why only part of the earth can see the eclipse.
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it means that  the mercurys orbit as seen from the earth is currently crossing the path of the sun.\n\nthink of it as just another eclipse. only mercury is too small and too far away to block much of the light from the sun\n\nthere is no signigicance. it happens at regualr intervals. it is just a neat thing to see.
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What Type of Lunar Eclipse?  Penumbral, Partial, or total? I am thinking you mean total. Check out my Source!
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The next Total Solar eclipse visible in Canada is August 1, 2008 in Nunavut. \n\nYour best bet would be to book a cruise since much of the eclipse is over water.\n\nHere are two links to travel groups planning to cruise this eclipse.
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A lunar eclipse is much slower than a solar eclipse when viewed from Earth. On average a lunar eclipse is visible from a point on earth for between 4 and 5 hours, a solar eclipse usually lasts 90 minutes.
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Your question doesn't make very much sense.  Do you mean how can a solar or lunar eclipse resemble the phases of the Moon?
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A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes in front of the Sun and obscures it totally or partially. This configuration can only occur at New Moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction, as seen from the Earth.\n\nThere are four types of solar eclipses:\n\n1.A total eclipse occurs when the Sun is completely  obscured by the Moon. The intensely bright disk of the Sun is replaced by the dark outline of the Moon, and the much fainter corona is visible (see image right). During any one eclipse, a total eclipse is visible only from a fairly narrow track on the surface of the Earth. \n2.An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring surrounding the outline of the Moon. \n\n3.A hybrid eclipse is intermediate between a total and annular eclipse. At some points on the Earth it is visible as a total eclipse; whereas at others it is annular. The generic term for a total, annular or hybrid eclipse is a central eclipse. \n\n4.A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line, and the Moon only partially obscures the Sun. This phenomenon can usually be seen from a large part of the Earth outside of the track of a central eclipse. However, some eclipses can only be seen as a partial eclipse, because the central line never intersects the Earth's surface.
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First, you must picture in your mind the 3 celestial bodies: sun, earth and moon. Picture the moon circling the earth: now it is between the earth and the sun, now it is at the other side of the earth, now it comes back again between earth and sun... As you know it takes about 4 weeks for the moon to make an entire circle around the earth.\nWhat happens when the moon is between us and the sun? well, it receives light from the sun on the face that is turned that way, so  we can't see it at the moment. That's why we can't see the new moon! It's there is the sky, but not lighted in the side facing us!\nThen 2 weeks later the moon is on the opposite side. The face that is facing the sun - and reflecting all that sunlight - is also facing the earth! So we see it fully - full moon.\nBut the path of the moon is not entirely on the same plane as us and the sun, there is a slight angle!!  Only sometimes it happens that the shadow of the earth catches the moon when it's full (and when it is perfectly aligned with the earth and the sun). THAT's your eclipse!!
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It has to do with the path of the earth and the sun through space.\n\nThe websites I've attached should help.
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Eclipse\nFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\n\n \nThe French 1999 eclipseAn eclipse (Greek verb: ekleipô, "to vanish") is an astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object moves into the shadow of another.\n\nThe term is most often used to describe either a solar eclipse, when the Moon's shadow crosses Earth's surface, or a lunar eclipse, when the Moon moves into the shadow of Earth. However, it can also refer to such events beyond the Earth-Moon system: for example, a planet moving into the shadow cast by one of its moons, a moon passing into the shadow cast by its parent planet, or a moon passing into the shadow of another moon. A solar eclipse is actually a misnomer; the phenomenon is actually an occultation.\n\nAn eclipse is a type of syzygy, as are transits and occultations.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEclipses in the Earth-Moon system\nAn eclipse involving the Sun, Earth and Moon can only occur when they are in a line. Because the plane of the orbit of the Moon is tilted with respect to the plane of the orbit of the Earth (the ecliptic), eclipses occur only when the three bodies are near the intersection (the node) of these planes. The Sun passes either node once a year, and eclipses occur in a period of about two draconic months around these times. There can be from four to seven eclipses in a calendar year. They repeat according to eclipse cycles.\n\n\nTypes of eclipse\n \n1999 Total solar eclipse seen from the Mir space stationThe most dramatic eclipses visible from Earth are:\n\nLunar eclipses - the Earth obscures the Sun, from the Moon's point of view. The Moon moves through the shadow cast by the Earth. This can only happen at full moon. \nSolar eclipses - the Moon occults the Sun, from the Earth's point of view. The Moon casts a shadow that touches the surface of the Earth. This can only happen at new moon. \nEclipses can be divided into different types:\n\nTotal eclipses, in which the light source is totally blocked off by the eclipsing body. For total solar eclipses, the viewer is in the umbra part of the Moon's shadow. The total phase of a total eclipse can have a duration of up to 7 min 31 s. \nPartial eclipses, in which only part of the luminary is covered (solar eclipses), or when only part of a body is eclipsed by the shadow (lunar eclipses). For solar eclipses, the viewer is in the penumbra part of the Moon's shadow. \nAnnular eclipse, which are a total eclipse of luminary where a thin ring of light is visible around the intervening object. For solar eclipses, the viewer is in the antumbra part of the Moon's shadow. It is pure coincidence that the Moon and Sun have nearly equal apparent sizes, making annular eclipses possible. Annular eclipses are ideal times for observing solar prominences. \nHybrid solar eclipses, which consists of three phases: the eclipse starts as an annular one, then turns into a total and by the end it returns to the annular phase. Total phase of hybrid eclipses a typically very short. Maximum possible duration is 1 min 49 s. \nThe ratio between the apparent sizes of the eclipsing body and that of the luminary is called the magnitude of the eclipse. For solar eclipses, the ratio varies around 1, being sometimes more than 1, sometimes less. For lunar eclipses, the magnitude is much larger than 1; they never appear annular (viewed from the Moon).\n\n\nEclipse phases\n \nThe French 1999 eclipseThese were used in occult ceremonies.\n\n\nGeneral phases of a solar eclipse\nThe general eclipse begins when the Moon's penumbra cone starts to sweep across the Earth's disc. \nThe total or annular eclipse begins when the Moon's umbra starts to sweep across the Earth's disc. \nThe centrality begins when the axis of the Moon's shadow cone starts to sweep across the Earth's disc. \nThe eclipse's maximum occurs when the terrestrial surface within the umbra reaches its largest area. \nThe centrality ends when the axis of the Moon's
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march 29, 2006\nhttp://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/2006/
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They are not the same.  During a full solar eclipse, the moon's shadow is only a spot on earth because the moon is much smaller than the earth, you have to be inside that spot on earth to see the full solar eclipse.\n\nDuring a full lunar eclipse, the earth's shadow covers the entire moon, and you don't see the moon no matter where on earth you are.