Hi really need help with this home worK question sO please help me !! {{ASAP}}
Originally posted 2009-06-10 07:05:48.
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Is the umbra larger during a solar eclipse or during a lunar eclipse? why?
Hi really need help with this home worK question sO please help me !! {{ASAP}}
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Lunar eclipse, the Earth is eclipsing the moon and because the earth is larger its Umbra is larger.
Solar eclipse: we stand in the shadow cast by the Moon. The Sun is hidden by the Moon.
Lunar eclipse: the Moon slips into the Earth’s shadow. It is no longer directly lit by the Sun.
Which object casts the biggest shadow?
Earth is bigger than Moon
I’d have to say during a Lunar eclipse. This type of eclipse is one where the Earth’s shadow darkens the surface of the Moon. A solar eclipse is one where the Moon blocks the Sun’s light. The Moon is only 1/4 of the size of the Earth, and is basically at the same distance from the Sun, so it follows that its shadow is smaller than the Earth’s.
(Umbra is just a fancy word for full shadow – the Sun being larger than both objects, there are partial shadows where the object only blocks a part of the Sun from view – leading to a partial shadow, or preumbra)
the earths umbra is about the same in either one. but in a solar eclipse, nothing is falling into the earths umbra
the moons umbra is always about the same size as well, but during a lunar eclipse, nothing is really passing into it.
the earths umbra is larger than the moons. so if you mean the umbra created by the eclipsing object, the answer is during a lunar eclipse
Eclipses of the moon occur when the moon passes into the shadow of the earth, that is, into the area of deep shadow called the umbra. The umbra is much larger in diameter of the moon.
The umbra is the darkest part of a shadow, and is where you will see a total eclipse. Shadows (if you could see them from outside) are cone-shaped.
And shadows are there even if there is no object (like the Earth or the moon) to enter that shadow.
In solar eclipses, the umbra of the moon’s shadow is very narrow at the point it touches the Earth’s surface, which is why total solar eclipses are only seen over a tiny strip of the Earth and its so short.
The Earth is a much larger object than the moon, so the Earth’s umbra is larger than the moon’s.
So the umbra that envelopes the moon during a lunar eclipse is larger (which is why a total lunar eclipse can last an hour or more and be seen over much of the Earth).