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Cheyenne (LM) If you were an astronaut on the moon, would a solar eclipse be more intense than on earth? I guess with no atmosphere on the moon, or blue sky, a total eclipse of the sun from the moon would make it look like a big "black hole" in space, right? thanks...

Hi Cheyenne,

 

Well, the deal with a solar eclipse on Earth is due to the Moon passing between the Sun and the Earth, so basically the Moon is blocking your view of the Sun.  It just so happens that the relative sizes of the Sun and Moon and their relative distances from Earth combine so that the disk of the Moon (as seen from Earth) is the same size as the disk of the Sun (as seen from Earth).  

 

A solar eclipse on the Moon would be when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon.  This would happen but the size and distance of the Earth isn't what it needs to be to match the size of the disk of the Sun (as seen from the Moon).  So you'd see the Earth as a big black dot move across the disk of the Sun, but it wouldn't completely block out the Sun.  So you wouldn't get the spectacular images that we get on Earth during a total solar eclipse.

 

But, you are right in that it would be surrounded by a black sky rather than a blue one and that might make it look interesting.

 

Best,

Christina

 

 Wow Cheyenne!  That's an intersting question. 

Here on Earth, we see a solar eclipse when the Moon passes in front of the Sun.  You could not see this from the Moon!  

However, an astronaut on the Moon can see the Earth pass in front of the Sun.  When this happens, people on Earth would see a lunar eclipse, while the astronaut on the Moon would see a solar eclipse.

This NASA web site shows a neat animation of what an astronaut would see if they were on the Moon during a lunar eclipse on Earth.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/12may_lunareclipse.htm

Kris 

Hi Cheyenne, Here is an illustration of a solar eclise from the moon. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070302.html cheers , priya