Edited by Michelle Ho
On December 4th 2021, a total solar eclipse happened. This solar eclipse was only visible over Antarctica, and was the only total solar eclipse of 2021.
The difference between a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse is that a lunar eclipse happens when the moon, Earth and the sun all line up, with the Earth in the middle, this means that the Earth’s shadow falls on the moon, which would have otherwise reflected off of the moon’s surface (Earth Sky, 2020). While in a solar eclipse the sun, moon and earth are all lined up, but with the moon in the middle, with the sun’s light being blocked by the moon, creating a solar eclipse. This is why in most cases you wouldn’t need any equipment or glasses to look at a lunar eclipse, but would need some equipment or glasses when looking at a solar eclipse, as in a sense you are directly looking into the sun (Spaceplace, n.d.).
People may get confused when a total solar eclipse occurs during the day as the moon blocks out all of the suns light, leading to total darkness. But people can get very excited by a solar eclipse as well, especially scientists who study the suns atmosphere, which is called the corona. The corona is an aura of plasma that surrounds the sun and other stars. Usually the corona is hidden due to the brightness of the sun’s surface, but during a solar eclipse, the moon blocks out the sun’s bright light, which allows the glowing white corona to be seen (Spaceplace-corona, n.d.).
The next total solar eclipse will occur on April 20 2023, and will be visible in Australia. In Hong Kong, we will only be able to see a partial solar eclipse. But not to worry, we get to experience a total lunar eclipse on November 8th 2022 in Hong Kong :).
References
Spaceplace. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/eclipse-
snap/en/
Spaceplace-corona. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18, 2022, from
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sun-corona/en/
Total solar eclipse [Photograph]. (2021, December 3). Space. https://www.space.com/total-
solar-eclipse-2021-viewing-guide
Earth sky. (2020, June 29). Retrieved November 23, 2021, from
https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/what-is-a-penumbral-eclipse-of-the-moon/
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