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The Moon moves right to left in its orbit around the Earth. The shadow it casts hits the Earth during the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, casting its shadow on the Earth. The shadow comprises two concentric cones called the umbra and the penumbra. Observers on the Earth who are within the smaller, central umbra see the Sun completely blocked. Within the larger penumbra, the Sun is only partially blocked.In this animation, the Earth, Moon, Sun, and shadow cones are viewed through a telescopic lens on a virtual camera located far behind the Earth. Long focal lengths like the one used here appear to compress the distance between near and far objects. Despite appearances, the geometry of the scene is correct. The Moon s umbra cone is roughly 30 Earth diameters long, barely enough to reach the Earth, while the Sun is almost 400 times farther away.From this perspective, we see the night sides of both the Earth and the Moon. Solar eclipses can only occur during New Moon, when the entire Earth-facing side of the Moon is experiencing nighttime darkness. A print-resolution still image showing the Earth, Moon, and Sun at 17:05:40 UTC during the August 21, 2017 eclipse. The image is 12 9 inches at 300 DPI.

A view of the United States during the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, showing the umbra (black oval), penumbra (concentric shaded ovals), and path of totality (red) through or very near several major cities. On Monday, August 21, 2017, the Moon will pass in front of the Sun, casting its shadow across all of North America. This will be the first total solar eclipse visible in the contiguous United States in 38 years.The Moon t distributed evenly, but the difference is quite small, about 0.5 kilometers. A view of the United States during the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, showing the umbra (black oval), penumbra (concentric shaded ovals), and path of totality (red). This version omits the city and state names and the statistics display. A view of the United States during the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, showing the umbra (black oval), penumbra (concentric shaded ovals), and path of totality (red). This version includes images of the Sun showing its appearance in a number of locations, each oriented to the local horizon.

The Moon orbits the Earth in the months prior to the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse. Viewed from above, the Moon s shadow barely reaches the Earth as it traces a path across North America. The Moon orbits the Earth in the months prior to the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse. This is identical to the first media item on this page, except that the Moon and Earth labels have been omitted.