Solar Eclipse
Though Earth's moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, it is also 400 times closer to us. This cosmic coincidence means that these two objects just happen to be the same apparent size in our sky. That allows the moon to completely block out the Sun. This magnificent cosmic event only happens when the path of the moon intersects the line between the earth and the sun. Moon's orbit is tilted slightly about 5 degrees. If not then we would have an eclipse every month. So most month the moon goes above or below the place where the line goes from the Erath to the sun. So instead of every moth we get a total eclipse in every 1.5 year.
As moon slides between earth and sun, it cast a shadow onto the earth. The outer part where the shadow is fainter is called the penumbra. If you stand within the penumbra as its moves along the earth surface then you will see a partial eclipse. But travel to spot within the part of the dark inner shadow umbra then you will experience the beauty of total eclipse. There is another option to observe the total eclipse. If we wait one place long enough then total eclipse will pass right over our head about once every 300 years.
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