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EclipsesAn eclipse is when one celestial object casts a shadow on another. They occur during the alignment of three bodies in space, known as a syzygy, in which one body blocks light from a second body from reaching the third. On Earth, this is most commonly associated with the moon blocking the sun—a solar eclipse—and the Earth blocking sunlight from reaching the moon—a lunar eclipse. Once considered a bad omen linked to a displeased sun god or to the attempted destruction of the sun, the term "eclipse" derives from a Greek word meaning "to forsake." By the fifth century BCE, patterns in the frequency of eclipses and the motions of the sun and moon allowed ancient astronomers to predict future occurrences. These events were used to demonstrate that the Earth was round and to determine the size of and distance to the moon more than two millennia ago. Since then, eclipses have led to improved understanding of the sun's corona, or outer atmosphere, the discovery of helium, and the validation of general relativity. Analyses of blocked starlight from beyond the solar system have contributed to the discovery of binary star systems—pairs of orbiting stars—and almost three-quarters of known exoplanets.Explore Eclipses
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Electric grids that rely on solar power must compensate for reduced electricity generation during solar eclipses. ReutersResearch shows that during total solar eclipses, some animals change their behavior to match their nighttime activities. IFLScienceView photographs of solar eclipses on Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn caused by the moons of these planets blocking sunlight. NASAThe majority of exoplanets—planets outside the solar system—have been discovered through mini-eclipses created when they pass in front of their host star and block some of its light from reaching Earth. National Radio Astronomy ObservatorySolar eclipses are a cosmic coincidence because the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun but about 400 times closer to Earth, allowing it to block sunlight for those on Earth within its shadow. The PlanetsWhile solar eclipses were considered ominous throughout history, multiple cultures explained the celestial event as the result of mythical creatures nearly consuming the sun. Atlas ObscuraAristotle discovered that Earth was spherical by observing the round shadow it cast on the moon during lunar eclipses and by noting that different constellations were visible from different latitudes. Popular ScienceBlood moons only occur during total lunar eclipses, when the Earth blocks the sun, but its atmosphere lets redder parts of sunlight through to reflect off the lunar surface. Time and DateOver thousands of years, the frequency of solar eclipses is greatest around the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and lowest near the equator. Space.comBy identifying patterns in the periodic movements of the sun, moon, and Earth, ancient civilizations realized that identical eclipses repeat about once every 6,585 days, known as the saros cycle. Astronomy MagazineSolar eclipses block the sun enough to enable scientists to observe its faint outer atmosphere, or corona, whose spectrum led to the discovery of helium over a decade before it was identified on Earth. Science History InstituteMore than 2,000 years ago, a hand-powered model of the solar system called the Antikythera mechanism—the oldest example of an analog computer—could predict solar eclipses. TED-EdIn 1676, Danish astronomer Ole Rømer determined that light did not travel instantaneously by observing a delay in the appearance of solar eclipses on Jupiter when it was farther from Earth. Las Cumbres ObservatoryIngrid Bergman's first film role was as an extra in the 1932 Swedish film 'Landskamp.' CriterionBecause the retina lacks pain receptors, during a solar eclipse, those watching without protective eyewear may suffer from permanent damage without realizing it. BBCSome maps may incorrectly identify the boundaries of a solar eclipse's totality because they assume the Earth is a smooth surface. Discover MagazineA solar eclipse viewer can be made from everyday objects, such as a cereal box, aluminum foil, tape, and paper, to safely view the cosmic event. CBS 13 NewsThe first scientifically useful photograph of a total solar eclipse was taken in Königsberg, Prussia, on July 28, 1851, using a silver-coated copper plate with a light-sensitive chemical layer. Smithsonian MagazineJust before and just after a total solar eclipse, sunlight can pass through uneven terrain on the lunar surface, producing disconnected bits of light around the moon called Baily's beads. European Southern ObservatoryJust as directly observing a solar eclipse without protective glasses can cause permanent eye damage, photographing an eclipse requires a specialized filter to prevent damaging your camera. NASA GoddardIn the third century BCE, the Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos estimated the distance to the moon using geometry after measuring the length of Earth's shadow during a lunar eclipse. 3Blue1BrownAstronomers can identify systems with pairs of orbiting stars by observing recurring dips in the system's brightness as the stars eclipse one another. European Southern ObservatoryWhile the sun, moon, and stars rise and set from east to west due to Earth's rotation, the moon's eastward revolution around the Earth causes its shadow to move from west to east during a solar eclipse. minutephysicsBecause the half of Earth that faces the sun is larger than the area of the shadow cast by the moon during a solar eclipse, observers may experience a total, annular, or partial eclipse. NASAAlthough the moon passes between the sun and Earth each month, its orbit is tilted by five degrees, preventing Earth from experiencing a solar eclipse each month. minutephysicsEclipse glasses protect the eyes from overexposure to the sun's ultraviolet, blue, and infrared light, as a person's instinct to look away from the sun is diminished when it's partly blocked. University of RochesterAccording to the Greek historian Herodotus, the first person to successfully predict a solar eclipse was the Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus in 585 BCE, with the resulting celestial event ending a half-decade-long war. Atlas ObscuraGlobal eclipse tourism is a multibillion-dollar industry, with the 2024 total solar eclipse across North America estimated to have generated $6B in economic activity across regions along its path. InvestopediaIn 2025, the European Space Agency created the first artificial solar eclipse in space when one spacecraft cast a shadow onto another spacecraft to enable observations of the sun's outermost atmosphere. European Space Agency, ESALearn about the sun's corona, which is nonlethal despite a temperature of millions of degreesThe outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere is best seen during a solar eclipse, when the moon blocks the much brighter (and significantly cooler) solar surface. Despite the high-energy particles in the corona moving fast enough to escape the sun's gravity and gradually become solar wind, their density is too low to contribute meaningfully to the region's overall radiation. University Corporation for Atmospheric ResearchA breakdown of the experimental test results supporting the general theory of relativityBesides accurately explaining the slight wobble observed in Mercury's orbit, general relativity predicted that light would bend around massive objects by an amount matching what was observed when background starlight bent around the sun during an eclipse. The theory also predicted the existence of gravitational waves and black holes decades before they were found. ESAVisualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth. DataViz DojoA gallery of shots taken during the lunar flyby of Artemis 2On April 6, 2026, the four-person Artemis 2 crew took photos of "earthset" and "earthrise" from the Orion spacecraft window during their lunar flyby. It was the first time humans had flown around the moon in over 50 years. NASAEvery eclipse is preceded or followed by another eclipse, separated by about two weeks and alternating between solar and lunar types. SpaceWatch a simulation of a collapsing star becoming a black holeWhen a massive star can no longer release enough energy through fusion in its core to fight off gravitational collapse, the dense core collapses first, producing an event horizon that traps light within it, including some light produced within the star at the time of collapse. As more material falls into the growing event horizon, the star will appear to eclipse itself from the inside. ScienceClic EnglishOnly 14% of transactions are in cash, as of 2025Credit (35%) and debit (30%) cards have long eclipsed cash as the primary method of payment in the US. It is a primary backup, however, with 90% of customers intending to use cash to pay or store value and 80% carrying cash. FRB ServicesClipse made history as the first hip-hop group to perform at the VaticanThe September 2025 performance was a part of the Vatican's "Grace of the World" concert, organized by Pharrell Williams. The duo performed their song "The Birds Don't Sing," accompanied by John Legend, the Voices of Fire choir, and a live orchestra. RapzillaBYD overcame Tesla via state backing, cheaper cars, and vertical integrationThe one-time battery company eclipsed Tesla in total sales in 2024. The Chinese-backed manufacturer targets low- to mid-tier cars and builds 75% of its components in-house. Its cars typically retail at half the cost of similar Tesla models. Bloomberg OriginalsVolcanoes in the 1340s likely helped trigger the Black DeathThe "bubonic plague" that wiped out roughly half of Europe and Asia originated from many factors. Recent research suggests volcanic eruptions contributed as well. The "aerosol" effects of matter released from eruptions likely prompted famine and accelerated the spread of infected fleas riding on grains avoiding spoilage. Popular ScienceScientists validated Albert Einstein's theory of gravity by measuring the apparent positions of stars via their starlight as it traveled near the sun on its way to Earth during a total solar eclipse.In 1919, a total solar eclipse helped redefine gravity. Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, published in 1915, defined gravity as the influence of massive objects, like planets and stars, curving space around them. This was very different from the way Isaac Newton had defined gravity over 200 years earlier: Newton described an attracting force that kept planets and stars in orbit with each other. If Einstein was right, then light would also bend near massive objects. And in 1919, two British expeditions set out to test it by photographing a total solar eclipse. By comparing the position of stars with the sun in front of them and another with the sun elsewhere, Arthur Eddington and his team proved that the stars’ apparent positions moved during the eclipse. This was the first, but not the last time Einstein’s theory of general relativity was tested and proven, and Einstein became a celebrity overnight. He remained a pop culture icon for the rest of his life. Darkroom is a history and photography series that anchors each episode around a single image. Analyzing what the photo shows (or doesn't show) provides context that helps unravel a wider story. VoxAs of 2022, the US accounted for nearly one-fifth of global oil productionBy 2022, the US had cemented its position as the world’s top oil producer with close to 18 million barrels per day. This eclipsed Saudi Arabia and Russia. Visual CapitalistGalileo’s discovery of Jupiter’s moons led to multiple scientific advancementsBeyond challenging Earth-centric views upon their discovery in 1610, the Galilean moons were also later analyzed to contribute to early astrometry and astronomical interferometry. Measurements of eclipses were also used to estimate the speed of light. Galileo UnboundSan Diego Comic-Con eclipsed 100,000 attendees for the first time in 2005Step back into July 2005 at San Diego Comic‑Con—when over 100,000 fans roamed crowded halls filled with cosplay, classic sci‑fi exhibits, and early Marvel and Star Wars booths—and witness the electric energy of one of the first major attendance years for the conference. Steve Belfer OfficialExplore a gallery of O'Neill cylinder space settlementsThe structures consist of a pair of cylinders with a total enclosed land area of 500 square miles and can house several million people. Each is approximately 20 miles long, 4 miles in diameter, and contains three mirrors that open and close to form a day-night cycle inside. The National Space SocietySee a lunar eclipse share the night sky with the Milky WayPhotos taken at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile in March 2025 captured a blood moon and the Milky Way galaxy within the same field of view. The moon appears red from the bluer parts of its reflected sunlight being scattered by Earth's atmosphere. Space.comInti, the Sun God of the IncaThe Incas were polytheistic, worshiping many gods, but Inti was the most powerful one in the pantheon. He was the god of the sun and also ruled over agriculture, fertility, and war. Inti was mainly a benevolent deity, though the Inca believed that solar eclipses meant Inti wasn’t pleased. To appease him, the Inca gave sacrificial offerings including food, white llamas, and even human beings. History CooperativeResearchers once thought Stonehenge functioned as a precise astronomical computerIn the 1960s, scientists used early computers to analyze the stone layout at Stonehenge, arguing it could predict eclipses and other celestial events. This BBC Sky at Night Magazine piece explains how the theory arose—and why scholars now doubt it. BBC Sky at Night MagazineAncient Greek told to kick rocks after claiming moon wasn't a deityAbout 2,500 years ago, ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras theorized that the moon probably wasn't a goddess. This article explains how this belief led to his exile. Anaxagoras also argued the sun was just a burning rock, writing that it was the sun that illuminated the moon. According to this resource, this theory enabled Anaxagoras to accurately explain eclipses and lunar cycles. Smithsonian MagazineThe general theory of relativity defines gravity as the curvature of spacetimeThe breakthrough that redefined Isaac Newton's picture of gravity came when Albert Einstein realized that freely falling is indistinguishable from weightlessness, leading him to the principle of equivalence between gravity and acceleration. His prediction that gravity bends light was confirmed in 1919 during a solar eclipse. Arvin Ash
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