Regions Of Earth’s Shadow – The Antumbra Eclipse

The antumbra eclipse, which is known as the annular eclipse, occurs when the Earth passes into the Moon’s shadow. It is one of the four types of eclipse: partial, annular, total and hybrid. In this kind of eclipse, the Moon is surrounded by a circle of light as the Moon does not completely cover the Sun. We are at an interesting point in time for eclipses.

In the past, the Moon was closer to the Earth than it is now which caused many more full eclipses. Many people are unaware the Moon is moving away from the Earth very slowly. The Moon leaving orbit will change the eclipses we get to see in the future. In several million years, the only eclipses we see will be annular and partial.

Historically, the first such eclipse was recorded on October 22, 2137 BCE. It was in a story about Ho and Hi, the drunk astronomers. Many believe this story to be somewhat unreliable. The next eclipse was recorded on May 3, 1375 BCE by the early Mesopotamians and was called the Ungarit eclipse. The next antumbral eclipse will occur on May 20, 2012 and will be mostly visible in the Southern Hemisphere.