PHASES OF THE MOON.
The inner circle represents the moon in her different positions as enlightened by the Sun.
The outer circle represents the moon’s appearance in her different positions as seen from the earth.
An Eclipse means a temporary obscuration of the Sun or moon, or a part of either, from our sight. When the Sun or moon is wholly hid from our sight, the eclipse is called total, and when only a part is obscured, it is called partial.
An eclipse of the Sun is caused by the passage of the moon between the Sun and the earth, and can never take place except at the time of new moon.
To understand this more fully, observe the cut below, and suppose a person standing on the earth at a place where the shadow of the moon falls upon the earth; he cannot see the Sun, because the moon is between him and the Sun.
ECLIPSE OF THE SUN.
The moon being an opaque body, does not shine, when by any cause the rays of the Sun are prevented from reaching her surface. Thus when the moon arrives in her orbit at a point where the rays of the Sun are intercepted by the earth, she is in the shadow of the earth, and is not enlightened by the Sun. Therefore;