Fig. 121.—The Moon as Seen When in Eclipse.
Again when the Moon is eclipsed it is not always entirely hidden from view by the great shadow of the Earth, for the air on the Earth sends the sunbeams round it so that the shadow is never very deep, and for this reason the Moon can still be seen, as shown in [Fig. 121]. So, then, some of these bent sunbeams fall on the Moon and are reflected from its surface back to us and it is then that we see the Moon in an entirely new light.
Sometimes during an eclipse of the Moon the man can still be seen, but instead of having a bright silvery face he will have changed it to the copper color of a red Indian. The whole eclipse of the Moon often lasts longer than six hours and sometimes the moon is in the deep shadow of the Earth as long as two hours.
Fig. 122.—Eclipse of the Sun by the Moon
(Experiment).
Fig. 123.—The Sun Eclipsed by the Moon
(Diagram).
A total eclipse is one in which the Moon passes completely into the shadow of the Earth, while a partial eclipse is one where only part of the Moon is in the shadow of the Earth and part of it is in the sunlight. Eclipses of the Moon occur quite often and you can look up the time of the next one in your almanac.
Eclipse of the Sun.—When the Sun is eclipsed it is caused by the Moon passing between the Earth and the Sun and so the light is cut off from the former.