What Causes a Solar Eclipse?

The sun sometimes disappears because the moon moves in front of it. Think of it like a giant shadow blocking the light from the sun, just like when you cover a flashlight with your hand and the light goes away.

When the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, it blocks all or part of the sun’s light. If it blocks the whole sun, we see a total solar eclipse. If only part is blocked, we get a partial solar eclipse.

The moon orbits the Earth every month, but most of the time it doesn’t line up perfectly with the sun and Earth, so we don’t get an eclipse every month.