The armies battled beneath the hot Sun. Neither side seemed to be winning. It was May 28, 585 BCE, the sixth year of war between the Lydians and the Medes in what is now Turkey. Suddenly, the light grew thin, and the air turned cold. A hole appeared in the sky where the Sun should be, surrounded by a halo of light. Surely, this was a sign from the gods that they should make peace.
A total eclipse of the Sun, as those ancient armies witnessed, could be frightening if you didn't know it was coming. That fear could even stop a war! Nowadays, we know what causes eclipses. We can predict when and where they'll happen, down to the minute and mile. Instead of frightening people, an eclipse can bring millions of us together in a wondrous moment of awe.
What Causes an Eclipse?
Earth orbits the Sun, and the Moon orbits Earth. The Moon passing between the Sun and Earth causes a solar eclipse. Although the Moon is roughly 400 times smaller than the Sun, it's about 400 times closer to Earth. That means they look the same size when viewed from Earth.
During an eclipse, the Moon casts a fuzzy shadow on the Earth. The center part of the shadow is called the umbra, people in the umbra see a total eclipse. For these viewers, darkness falls as the Moon entirely covers up the Sun. The gray, fuzzy part of the shadow is the penumbra; people here see a partial eclipse. The farther you are from the center, the less Sun is covered up.
The Moon takes about 27 days to orbit the Earth, but we don't have eclipses every month. That's because the Moon's orbit is tilted five degrees to our orbit around the Sun. So, the Moon is often too high or too low when it's between us and the Sun. An eclipse happens only when the Sun, the Moon, and Earth line up perfectly.
Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
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Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Who's Your Cousin?
The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them?
Is it possible to die of boredom?
To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
THE PROBLEM WITH PALM OIL
Palm oil is all around you. It’s in sugary snacks like cookies and candy bars. It’s in lipstick and shampoo and pet food.
SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
Guardians of the Forest
EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
APE ANTICS
The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY PRIMATES THAT USE MEDICATION.
THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
SO, WHAT IS A PRIMATE?
What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.
