Astronomy: Eclipse

Astronomy Lesson 2: Make a Solar Eclipse
September 8, 2008

We had to get a Styrofoam ball (but we didn’t, we used one of our balls) and tied it onto string. We also got a flashlight and a globe.

And now, to tell you how we did it. And if you want to know what “it” is, we are making a solar eclipse at our house.

A solar eclipse is when the moon gets in front of the sun and blocks off the sun’s light. (I bet it’d be awful cold?) It will form a shadow and if the moon is closer to the sun, you will get less light. And if it is farther away from the sun, you will get more light.

How to do this project
First, we tied the string to the ball, or if it’s Styrofoam you can poke a hole into it to attach it. After that, the one thing that we need is two humans! One of them should hold the string and the other one should hold the flashlight (and don’t forget to turn it on!). Then, the person with the flashlight shines onto the ball. The ball should be in front of the globe. Make sure you shine the light of the flashlight to make there be a shadow on the globe. And that is how you make a solar eclipse at your house.

Malaysia and Indonesia and the Indian Ocean are where we made the eclipse happen.