Eclipses
Summary
Not to scale!
The Moon's orbit around Earth is tilted. That is why the Moon is above or below our line of sight to the Sun, making an eclipse impossible most of the time.
When the three bodies line up just right, which only happens when the Moon is in the proper point in its orbital plane, an eclipse becomes possible. These proper points are the ones shown in positions 1 and 3.
Learning objectives
- To illustrate the alignments necessary for an eclipse to occur (nodal points).
- To illustrate the dynamics of the Sun/Earth/Moon system.
