Caoimhín's Content

Today, we will be looking at a couple of eclipses. We will be looking at the Moon going in front of the Sun and also we will be looking at the Moon going behind the Earth. We are looking at some of the same eclipses we’ve looked at recently, but from a different perspective.

We are after discussing a couple of eclipses on this website already, especially the lunar eclipse that’s coming up on the 7th of September. This is the first one that we will be able to see from Ireland, out of the eclipses that we’re going to talk about here. This lunar eclipse, isn’t total from Ireland, but it will be total from other parts of the world. We are only able to see the end of the eclipse from here in Ireland, just as the Moon is rising. I have previously mentioned that from other places the eclipse will be total. Last time, it seemed like Kazakhstan was one of the best places to see this lunar eclipse in the northern hemisphere. The totality of the eclipse still happens low enough, but high enough that the full eclipse can be seen starting at moonrise. Even without zooming in for a closer look, a sort of darkness clearly takes over the Moon. The Moon seems to lessen in the sky, as there is a lack of light coming from the Moon. The reason that there is a lack of light coming from the Moon is the shadow of the Earth, the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun. The darkest point of the shadow is sort of on top of the Moon, to the north of the Moon rather than the south of the Moon. Most of the Moon, but especially the southern region has more of that red colour. This is what gives a lunar eclipse the nickname “Blood Moon”. It is a deep colour, almost a dark sort of red. This is still the total shadow of the Earth, the umbra.

The thing that want to discuss is that shadow from the Moon. We are going shift our perspective to the Moon, our Moon, and see what it looks like. Stellarium has a list of many astronomical bodies that we can look from, so we have to go down the list to the letter M. We’re going to position ourselves at the middle of the Moon, right on the equator. From this point, we should be able to see the Earth in the sky, as a dark disc blocking out the stars. Moving up to the correct time, and it comes between the Sun and the Moon itself. We are able to see the eclipse happening from the Moon, but it looks very different. A total solar eclipse happens on the Moon if there is a total lunar eclipse from the Earth. There Earth comes in, covers the Sun and stays in front of the Sun for a good few minutes. This is the reason why a lunar eclipse is longer than a solar eclipse. If you are on the Earth looking at the Moon and the Sun, they are almost equal in size in the sky. The Moon and the Sun look like they are almost the same size. That’s the reason why the Moon is able to go exactly between the Earth and the Sun, block it out perfectly, but then the eclipse stops very quickly after the total cover happens. The Moon and Sun line up perfectly, and only briefly. Here, the Sun is behind the Earth for a longer time and the Earth appears much bigger than the Sun in the sky. The apparent larger size of the Earth keeps the Sun blocked for longer, and a lunar eclipse on the Earth is longer than a solar eclipse on the Earth. However, if you are on the Moon looking back at the Earth, it looks like a solar eclipse that is longer. This is the eclipse of the Moon that we are able to see from Ireland on the 7th of September.

This view is something a little bit different from a solar eclipse viewed from the Moon. To look at an eclipse of the Sun from the Earth, we have to go to New Zealand, very far down South. I’m going to use New Zealand but the partial solar eclipse, and it is only a partial eclipse, will also be visible from Antarctica. We also need to move from the beginning of the month towards the end, up to the 21st. On the 21st, the Moon comes in front of the Sun. As I said, this is a partial eclipse. The Sun won’t be completely covered with the Moon anywhere on Earth. There will be a little of the Moon in front of the Sun. This is the next solar eclipse, we won’t be able to see it from Ireland, but there is another solar eclipse coming up. There is a total solar eclipse coming up, but it will only be a partial eclipse from Ireland. If you are in other parts of Europe, then you might be able to see it. First, we’re going to look at this partial solar eclipse from the Moon. We have to go down the alphabet again to move to the Moon, and when we do Stellarium will put us in the south. That’s the place where New Zealand would be if the countries on Earth were mapped onto the Moon, so Stellarium keeps us in relatively the same place. However, we’re going to go back to the equator. I think that it’s a little bit easier on the Moon to hit the exact equator, as the Moon is a lot smaller than the Earth.

From the Moon, this time we can see the Earth illuminated, and we can tell what part we’re looking at. It’s hard to tell due to the clouds, but South America is just after getting sunrise and above it is North America, with Baja California just about visible. Across the ocean is New Zealand down on the other side of the Pacific, the biggest ocean on Earth. Most of the view here is ocean, with just a little land visible around the sides. A view like this is very similar to the normal view that we would get from the New Moon if we are looking at the Earth. However this time, if we move around a little, there is a little bit of a shadow passing along the Earth. It’s a harder to see the shadow for a partial than it is for a total solar eclipse. For now, we are going to go down the list of locations to the letter S to look at this eclipse from the Sun, again from the equator.

From the Sun, several planets are visible in the sky, but initially not the Earth. The same side of the Moon always faces the Earth, but the Sun rotates in a more normal way. Maybe, there is a chance that the Earth is simply on the wrong side of the Sun to be seen. The Sun is a lot bigger, certainly, than the Earth, and for that reason, there is a better chance that we land in the wrong place, looking in the wrong direction. Once we are looking the right way, the Earth is visible, and between the Earth and the Sun is the Moon. The side that we’re seeing is what we normally call the dark side of the Moon. As the solar eclipse happens, the Moon goes directly between the Sun and the Earth. New Zealand is hard to see, but by getting the earth to rotate the right way, Australia comes into view. The clouds getting in the way are sort of historical clouds, clouds from the past. Those clouds won’t be in the way on the future date we’re looking at. However, it’s very hard to know the future weather, it’s a lot harder to about the weather in the future than it is to predict the places in which the planets and the Moon will be. New Zealand is just next to Australia, but under the clouds in the view given by Stellarium. As we move through time the Moon gets in the way, but sort of to the side, the Moon isn’t directly in the way, but this is only a partial eclipse.

As I was saying, this side of the Moon that we see from the Sun during a solar eclipse, we call it the darkside. However that side of the Moon is a little bit brighter than our side of the Moon. There aren’t many of the seas and oceans, those dark regions we’re used to from our side of the Moon. The other side of the Moon looks very sort of “clean”, very light, without those big dark blotches. It is however covered with craters, covered in hills and cracks and stuff like that, but it looks a little bit brighter, a little bit easier to see.

For a total solar eclipse we have to push ahead to 2026, and we have to push back to August. We are close to the middle of August, back to the 12th. The Moon will be covering a very different part of the Earth, we’re looking at the Atlantic, with a little bit of Africa and a little bit of Europe visible. Spain and Portugal would be visible if it wasn’t for the clouds, but as I said, the clouds are historical clouds. The clouds in Stellarium are from a few years ago when the pictures it uses were taken, but we aren’t sure if the clouds will be like this when we push ahead to the future. From the Sun, the Moon goes in front of Greenland and then down towards Spain. As we push ahead. We can see a little bit of Africa, but Iberia and the islands of Ireland and Britain are on the other side of this Moon. This eclipse is a total eclipse, and it looks very different from the other, partial, eclipse.

Before we finish, if we go back to the Moon, back up the alphabet from the Sun to the Moon, from S to M. It was a little odd in the video, saying from S to M when I was really saying “grian” and “gealach”, from G to G, because the attached video is in Irish. Unfortunately, the lists of planets in Stellarium isn’t in Irish. Again, from the Moon we can see the Earth, a full Earth with the Sun on the other side of the Moon behind us. If we zoom in on the Earth, there is a better chance that we will be able to see the shadow of the Moon crossing the planet. It moves across the Earth, from Greenland down to Spain, and the the shadow is a lot darker and more solid than it was for the partial. It is easiest to see as it passes a little under Greenland and next to Iceland, and that is where the solar eclipse will look best from. That’s the shadow of the Moon, that’s the important thing, the most important part of the eclipse.

As I’ve said for a few videos now, I expect that you will be able to see the eclipse in 2026. If you are lucky, I hope you will be able to see the September eclipse from the Earth as well. If you enjoyed this piece then make sure you press the button that says that you liked it. Also, if you have an interest in this sort of topic, then please subscribe to this website and my YouTube channel. Thank you very much for reading and hopefully I’ll see you back next time.