Chapter 9

THE EARTH MOON SYSTEM

Introduction
In addition to its nearness to Earth, the Moon is relatively larger body
compared with the distance and mass of the solar planet. The Moon
and Earth consequently exert a strong gravitational influence on each
other, forming a system having distinct properties and behaviour of its
own.
Moon – earth gravitational attraction
Although the Moon is commonly described as orbiting the Earth, it is
more accurate to say that the two bodies orbit each other about a
common centre of mass. This point lies inside Earth about 2,900 from
its centre. Also more accurately, it is the barycentre, rather than the
centre of Earth, that follows an elliptical path around the Sun in accord
with Kepler's laws of planetary motion. The orbital geometry of the
Moon, Earth, and the Sun gives rise to the Moon's phases and to the
phenomena of lunar and solar eclipses.
Phases of the moon
The Moon appears to go through phases. In other words, the amount of
the Moon that we can see changes over time in a cyclic period that
repeats itself approximately once a month. (The actual period of this
cycle is approximately 29.5 Earth days.) The cause of these phases is
the relative positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. As seen in the
diagram below, if the Sun is located off to the right of the picture, the
Earth and Moon are illuminated as shown (the white areas being the
lighted areas). Notice that no matter what phase the Moon is in, half of it
is always lit by the Sun. (Which half is always lit? The half that is facing
the Sun) The reason that we do not always see a Moon, which is half lit,
is because of our position relative to the Moon and the Sun. As the
Moon moves in its orbit, different portions of it appears (to us!) to be lit
up as we look at it from Earth. This is why we see lunar phases.

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 For example, if the Moon is at position 1 in the diagram, the half of it
that is lit by the sun is facing away from us, so we do not see the moon
at all. This is called a new Moon. When the Moon is at position 3, we
see half of the half of the Moon that is lit up. We call this a quarter
Moon. The important point is that the amount of the Moon which is lit by
the Sun does not change. The only thing that changes is the position of
the Moon relative to us and the Sun. This change in position causes the
phases.
Eclipses
Our ancients have known the phenomena of the eclipses to the extent
that they were in a position to calculate the event in advance. However
somewhere along the time some superstitious beliefs crept in and
various theories without any base were circulated, especially in the rural
population. However, we now know that the eclipses occur when the
centres of the Sun, moon and the earth are nearly in a line. When the
moon is in conjunction with the Sun, the moon appears directly blocking
the view of the Sun causing solar eclipse. As would be expected the
shadow of the moon creates Penumbra and Umbra. Umbra is the
shadow and the penumbra the partial shadow.
Solar Eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks the light from the Sun and
causes a shadow to be cast on a small area of the Earth. There are

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three types of solar eclipses: total, partial, and annular. Due to the
relative sizes of the Moon and the Sun and their distances from us, at
times they appear to be the same size in the sky. If a solar eclipse
occurs during this time, the Moon exactly covers the Sun and a total
eclipse occurs. These are of interest because during total eclipses,
outer layers of the Sun which are not usually visible can be seen. The
alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun has to be exact for a total eclipse
to occur. Even when the alignment is exact, not everyone will see a total
eclipse. This is because, if the alignment is correct for the northern
hemisphere, it is slightly off in the southern hemisphere (and vice
versa). During total eclipses, astronomers specify zones where the
alignment is exact (the umbra) and where it is slightly off (penumbra).
Total eclipse occurs when the Umbra covers the entire face of the Sun.
When the moon covers some part of the Sun, it is called a partial
eclipse and when a narrow ring of the Sun is seen it is termed as
annular eclipse.
If the alignment is not exact, a partial eclipse may occur. This is when
the Moon only partially overlaps the Sun and blocks only part of the Sun
from our view.

An annular eclipse occurs when the apparent size of the Moon is

smaller than that of the Sun, and the Moon does not fully block the Sun
from our view. This occurs because the Moon's orbit is elliptical, and so
the Moon's distance from the Earth varies. When the Moon is farther
away from the Earth, it appears to be smaller. Therefore, there are
times when the Moon appears to be smaller than the Sun. If an eclipse
occurs at this time, an annular eclipse results. Annular eclipses look like
a "bull's eye".

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Lunar Eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth's
shadow. Because the Earth is much larger than the Moon, usually the
entire Moon is eclipsed. Because the full phase can be seen from
anywhere on the night side of the Earth, a lunar eclipse can be seen by
more people than a solar eclipse. Since the Moon is moving through the
Earth's shadow, and the size of the Earth is much greater than the size
of the Moon, a lunar eclipse last for about 3.5 hours (as opposed to a
solar eclipse which last on the order of about 7.5 minutes).
Here also we have Umbra, penumbra and annular eclipse. The lunar
eclipse occurs on a full moon day and the solar eclipse occurs on new
moon day.

During a total lunar eclipse the Moon takes on a dark red colour
because it is being lighted slightly by sunlight passing through the
Earth's atmosphere and this light has the blue component preferentially
scattered out (this is also why the sky appears blue from the surface of
the Earth), leaving faint reddish light to illuminate the Moon during the
eclipse.
Since the Moon goes around the Earth every 28 days, shouldn't we
expect a solar eclipse about every 28 days (when the Moon is new),
and a lunar one in the same period, (when the Moon is full)?

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The answer is No! While the Moon is always in a new phase during a
solar eclipse, a solar eclipse does not occur every time the moon is in
the new phase. This is because the orbit of the Moon is tilted relative to
the Earth's orbit around the Sun. This tilt is only 5 degrees, but it is
enough so that the alignment of the Earth, Moon, and Sun only occurs
about once every six months. This holds true for lunar eclipses as well.
In fact, lunar and solar eclipses generally occur together; that is, if the
alignment is correct for a lunar eclipse during the full phase of the
Moon, it will also be correct for a solar eclipse during the next new
phase of the Moon.
Astronomers can predict eclipses with great accuracy. At least two solar
eclipses and as many as three lunar eclipses occur every year. The
nautical almanac shows the movement of the shadow and the time it
can be seen.
Check from the nautical almanac the time of the next solar and lunar
eclipse and determine as to where it could be observed. Determine
whether it is a partial, total or annular eclipse.

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