Eclipse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Eclipse (disambiguation).
An eclipse is an astronomical event. It is when one object in the sky moves into the shadow of another such object. When an eclipse happpens within a system of stars, like the Solar System, it makes a type of syzygy. This means that three or more objects in the sky are lined up in a straight line in the same gravitational system.[1]
The term eclipse is most often used to describe a solar eclipse, when the Moon's shadow crosses the Earth's surface, or a lunar eclipse, when the Moon moves into the shadow of Earth.
[change] Etymology
The word comes from the ancient Greek noun ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis), which is from the verb ἐκλείπω (ekleípō). This means "to cease (stop) to exist (be there)".[2][3][4]
[change] References
- ↑ The New York Times (March 31, 1981). "Science Watch: A Really Big Syzygy". Press release. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9F02E5DB1039F932A05750C0A967948260&fta=y. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
- ↑ http://www.in.gr/dictionary/lookup.asp?Word=%E5%EA%EB%E5%DF%F0%F9+++&x=0&y=0
- ↑ http://www.lingvozone.com/main.jsp?action=translation&do=dictionary&language_id_from=23&language_id_to=8&word=%CE%BB%CE%B5%CE%AF%CF%80%CF%89+&t.x=55&t.y=16
- ↑ http://translate.google.com/translate_t?prev=hp&hl=en&js=y&text=%CE%BB%CE%B5%CE%AF%CF%80%CF%89&sl=el&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1#
