page_title: Solar eclipse
section_title: Types
hierarchical_section_title: Solar eclipse / Types
caption_attribution_description: Español: Eclipse AnularРусский: Солнечное затмение 3 октября 2005 года в Испании
context_page_description: As seen from Earth, a solar eclipse /ee-klips/ happens when the Moon is directly between the Earth and the Sun. This makes the Moon fully or partially cover the sun. Solar eclipses can only happen during a new moon. Every year there are about two solar eclipses. Sometimes there are even five solar eclipses in a year. However, only two of these can be total solar eclipses, and often a year will pass without a total eclipse.
  The area in which an eclipse is total is only a narrow track along the Earth. Totality lasts only a few minutes. Outside this path, all eclipses are partial, and places far from the track get no eclipse at all. The track can be predicted many years before it happens. The last total eclipse was the solar eclipse of June 21, 2020. The next will be on 14 Dec 2020.
  A total solar eclipse is a natural phenomenon. Long ago, solar eclipses were thought to happen because of something supernatural or as a sign that something bad was going to happen. This is still believed in some cultures today. A total solar eclipse can frighten people who do not know what it means, because the Sun seems to disappear during the day and the sky turns dark in just a few minutes.
context_section_description: There are four different types of solar eclipses:
  A total eclipse is when the Sun is completely hidden behind the Moon. The dark shadow of the Moon covers the very bright surface of the Sun. This makes the corona easier to see.
  An annular eclipse is when the Sun is directly behind the moon, but it looks like the Moon is smaller. This makes the Sun appear as a very bright ring or annulus around the shape of the Moon.
  A hybrid eclipse (also called annular/total eclipse) is when it looks like a total eclipse in some parts of the Earth, and an annular eclipse in other parts. Hybrid eclipses do not happen as often as other eclipses.
  A partial eclipse is when the moon is not exactly between the Sun and Earth, so it does not hide the Sun completely. This can usually be seen from a large part of the Earth.
  The Sun's distance from the Earth is about 400 times the Moon's distance, and the Sun's diameter is about 400 times as big as the Moon's. This is why the Sun and Moon seem to be about the same size from Earth.
caption: Hybrid solar eclipse on October 3, 2005
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