Solar Eclipse Educational Video

This short animation video explains why we don't experience Solar Eclipses every month.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Solar
• Eclipse
• Astronomy
• Video
• Moon
• orbit
• tilt
• telescope
• solar
• system
• earth
• Sun
• milky
• way
• universe
• lunar

[FamousStuffNetwork]

My science class watched this today!

[kohjb]

@FamousStuffNetwork Great! Let me know if your class has any feedback to improve the video! :-)

[kohjb]

Hi osverval! The Moon turns red during a lunar eclipse - when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun. The key "mechanism" at work here is "light scattering". Higher frequency light (i.e. blue) gets scattered by dust more easily than lower frequency light (i.e. red). So as the sunlight hits the Earth's atmosphere, the blue light is "lost" and the red light is left, which then illuminates the Moon. The red light does get "bent" around the Earth through the atmosphere, somewhat like refraction.

[rub1k]

@kohjb if i remember correcty from one of my physics teacher explanation, "light scattering" is also the explanation on why the sky on daylight and great masses of water like oceans and seas seen from distance appear to be blue.

am i too far from reality?

[kohjb]

@rub1k Light scattering is also known as the Rayleigh effect, and yes, it's also the same reason the sky appears blue. Higher frequency light (i.e. blues) gets scattered more easily than lower (i.e. red). Assuming the Sun is off to one side during the day when you're looking at the sky, much of the red light rays pass "straight" overhead from the Sun and therefore does not enter your eyes. The blue which is scattered is much more likely to make it to your eyes.

[kohjb]

@rub1k The ocean is blue because water is blue! Not due to light or Rayleigh scattering. Pure water is bluish in colour by nature. It does not look blue because of reflections from the sky.

[BACHATERO4U]

This is a great video! Alot of information in 5 minutes. Your video should be a set sample of how most instructional videos should be.

[ChristaBrooks14]

my science class watched this today :)

[iLOVENATURE2011]

cool 3D presentation..can be easily understood! =)

[Playitalready]

@kohjb ok if the moon's orbit has a 5 degree tilt and thus it does not always pass in between the sun and earth straight up, why does it do it sometimes and sometimes it does not? what is this quantam mechanics working now on big scales lol.

and what is the official term for light scattering i don't want to confuse it with reflection and refraction and speaking of all that, how do we know distances of all these objects are accurate as modern science says>?

[fanym16]

This video is exceptional! Great information!

[100mniyer]

Superb! Just showed to my 13 year old daughter to explain why we don't see a solar eclipse every month. Thanks so much for making science come alive!

[FamousStuffNetwork]

@kohjb Were in 6th grade and we like it.

[leoketan1]

now how does Venus fit into all this..?

[SonicKnows2]

13 times in a year when it's going to hit california LunarEclipse seen it :D