Sometimes it s tilted up and sometimes it s tilted down, and the dots of the Earth, moon, and sun can t be connected in a straight line. Eclipse shadows, whether created by the moon or Earth, are always composed of two cone-shaped parts, one inside the other. The outer area, called the penumbra, is lighter and only a portion of the light is blocked. The inner area, called the umbra, is dark and all direct light is blocked. During a solar eclipse, the partial phase is the dramatic crescent-shaped bite of the moon growing ever larger as it eats away at the sun.
Totality takes place when the sun s disk is blocked completely by the moon.
During a lunar eclipse, the partial phase is difficult to see because the dimming is of the light is so slight. During totality, however, the Earth blocks all direct sunlight from the moon. It doesn t go completely black, however, because indirect sunlight manages to reach the moon and illuminate it. Earth s atmosphere also bends or refracts some of the sunlight so that a small fraction can reach the moon. If Earth had no atmosphere, then the moon would be completely black.