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eclipses

Last post 09-29-2005 10:50 AM by Christina Cohen. 1 replies.
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  • 09-29-2005 10:11 AM

    eclipses

    javiar r

    can eclispes be seen on other planets in our solar system?

  • 09-29-2005 10:50 AM In reply to

    Re: eclipses

    Hi Javiar,

    Solar eclipses can be seen on any planet that has a moon which passes between the planet and the Sun.  So, certainly Mars has eclipses and more of them because it has two moons and they travel around the planet more frequently than our moon does.  Jupiter also has several moons that could cause eclipses.

    The thing that makes our eclipses special is that the size of the Moon (as seen from Earth) is about the same size in the sky as that of the Sun.  So, when the moon passes in front of the Sun it covers nearly the whole solar disk.  This won't be the case for other planets where the apparent moon size is smaller than the apparent Sun size (in the sky).

    Best,
    Christina

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