Question

Sequence of position during solar eclipse is _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
A. Sun, Earth and Moon
B. Earth, Sun and Moon
C. Sun, Earth and Planet
D. Sun, Moon and Earth

Answer 1

Hint: - During solar eclipse earth is covered by a shadow of another celestial body.
- Each year 2-5 solar eclipses occur and it starts with the movement of the moon from westward to the eastward direction.
- Earth, sun and moon are either exactly on one line or approximately on one line and this alignment decides the further type of solar eclipse.

Complete Answer:
Solar Eclipse: A solar eclipse is a phenomenon in which the moon enters the halfway of the earth and the sun. The moon obstructs the sunlight and casts the shadow on the earth surface. A solar eclipse can only happen at the stage of a new moon when the moon passes directly between the sun and earth.

Occurrence: The solar eclipse starts when the moon starts entering from the west side proceeding towards eastwards between the earth and sun. The first phase is called the first contact when the moon’s edge just comes in contact with the edge of the sun and the second phase is called Baily's beads and the dining ring effect and when the sun is almost totally covered by the moon and only the faint corona is visible, this phase is called Totality. The maximum breadth of totality is 269 kilometres long.

 Duration: Total solar eclipses happen on rare occasions. Although these events averagely occur in every 18 months. There are other types of solar eclipses but the total solar eclipses just last for a few minutes in a location because the moon’s umbrage continuously moves eastwards with the speed of 1700 kilometres per hour. It is assumed that the totality of the eclipse can never last more than 7 minutes 32 seconds.
Thus the moon enters between sun and earth making the sequence of sun, moon and earth.

So the correct answer is option D.

Note: - Solar eclipse has further three types - partial eclipse, annular eclipse and total eclipse and from the north and the south pole total eclipse can never be seen.
- Saros cycle is the phenomenon in which identical solar eclipses occur every 18 years and 11 days.
- Studies of ancient records of solar eclipses before the advent of modern atomic clocks allowed astronomers to detect a 0.001 second per century slowing down in the rotation of the Earth.