What is a solar eclipse – and when is the next one?
Learn the difference between total and partial solar eclipses, how to be in the path of totality, and how to view one safely
Humans have recorded solar eclipses for millennia, and references to them can be found in some of humanity’s earliest texts, including ancient Chinese historical documents. Debate even swirls around whether a line from Homer's Odyssey — "The sun has been obliterated from the sky" — can be tied to a historic eclipse.
Through the ages, the sudden darkening of the sun has been seen as a signal of the displeasure of the gods or an omen of bad things to come. But once astronomers figured out how solar eclipses worked, they became events to be studied and celebrated.
What they found is that solar eclipses happen only during a new moon, when the moon moves between Earth and the sun. But given there’s a new moon every month, why aren’t solar eclipses more common? That’s because the moon orbits Earth at a slight angle, meaning the three bodies only periodically line up on the same plane to create a solar eclipse.
One of those rare alignments will happen on the April 8, 2024, when viewers along a narrow path through the Americas will get a view of the moon completely blocking the sun — a total eclipse. Many areas outside the path will also be able to see the eclipse, though it will only appear as a partial eclipse.
[…]
What is a solar eclipse — and how often do they happen?
A solar eclipse occurs when a new moon aligns perfectly between Earth and the sun and briefly casts a shadow on our planet, called an umbra. The moon's diameter and distance from Earth make its relative size just big enough to cover the sun's disk — either partially or fully, depending on the distances between the three celestial bodies.
A total eclipse, when the moon blocks out the entire sun, occurs every one or two years on average. Partial solar eclipses, where the moon covers only part of the sun, are slightly more frequent.
[…]
The chance of observing a total eclipse from any single spot on Earth is less than once in a lifetime. That’s because each solar eclipse is only visible from a small area on Earth: As the moon moves and Earth spins, its shadow races across the planet's surface at some 1,400 miles an hour, creating a relatively narrow line called the path of totality. Only sky watchers within this line — typically 10,000 miles long and just a hundred miles wide — experience a total solar eclipse, while others glimpse a partial eclipse or no change at all.
[…]
How to safely view one
Seeing a solar eclipse can be an unforgettable experience, but experts urge caution. Looking directly at the sun with your naked eyes or through unprotected telescopes or binoculars can cause eye damage and even permanent blindness. Special eclipse glasses that filter out the sun's most damaging rays, instruments fitted with solar filters, or simple pinhole cameras can allow you to view the phenomenon safely.
[…]
Adaptado de: JAGGARD, Victoria; MARTIN, Emily. What is a solar eclipse – and when is the next one? National Geographic. 02/04/2024. Disponível em: https://www.national geographic.com/science/article/solar-eclipses. Acesso em: 05/04/2024.
Vocabulário (neste contexto):
swirls: gira em torno;
tied: ligada;
omen: presságio;
glimpse: entreveem, vislumbram;
blindness: cegueira;
fitted: equipados;
pinhole cameras: câmeras artesanais, sem lentes.
No que se refere a aspectos gramaticais e discursivos da língua inglesa, a partir de trechos do texto, assinale o que for correto.
01) O termo though, destacado no texto, tem a função discursiva de demarcar uma explicação que será apresentada na sequência. Assim, poderia ser substituído, sem prejuízo de sentido, por because.
02) No primeiro período do último parágrafo do texto, em dois momentos, há a utilização do verbo modal can (destacado em negrito) para marcar discursivamente a ideia de habilidade. Assim, nessas ocorrências, o verbo poderia ser traduzido, sem prejuízo de sentido, por “sabe”.
04) O subject pronoun “they”, destacado no texto, é utilizado para evitar a repetição da expressão anterior solar eclipses.
08) A expressão our planet, destacada no texto, é usada para substituir o termo Earth, evitando a repetição e contribuindo, portanto, para a coesão textual.