The word eclipse has its roots in the ancient Greek word ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis), modern Greek έκλειψη [gr. éklipsi]. The noun is a combination of the Greek prefix ek- (gr. εκ-) which means “out” and the verb leipo (gr. λείπω) which means “to be absent”, “to be missing”, “gone”. Eclipse is a phenomenon in which an astronomical body passes between two astronomical objects or into the shadow of an astronomical object having as a result not being visible or losing its brightness.
There are two types of eclipses. The first one is the solar eclipse in which the Moon’s shadow crosses the Earth’s surface, and the second one is when the Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow (lunar eclipse). Furthermore, both the lunar and the solar eclipse can be divided into three subcategories each. The solar eclipse can be a total solar eclipse, a partial solar eclipse or an annular solar eclipse. The lunar eclipse can be a penumbral lunar eclipse, a partial lunar eclipse or a central lunar eclipse.
The last eclipse the human eye saw was on the 27 July 2018. It was a lunar eclipse, the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century. It was called blood moon due to its color. The eclipse lasted almost 2 hours (103 minutes) and was visible from many regions in the world like, from large parts of Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America.
Till the end of 2019 some eclipses will be visible in different regions of the world. You can see where and when in the following table. Just make sure if it`s a solar eclipse to wear special glasses to protect your eyes.
Eclipse type | Where? | When? |
Partial solar eclipse | North-East Europe
North-West Asia North America Atlantic Arctic |
11.8.2018 |
Partial solar eclipse | Asia (East) | 5.1.2019 |
Total lunar eclipse | Europe
Asia Africa North and South America Pacific Atlantic Indian Ocean Arctic |
20.1.2019 |
Total solar eclipse | North America
South America Pacific |
2.7.2019 |
Partial lunar eclipse | Europe
Asia Australia Africa North America Pacific Atlantic Indian Ocean Antarctica |
16.7.2019 |
Annular solar eclipse | East Europe
Asia North Australia West Australia East Africa Pacific Indian Ocean |
16.12.2019 |
References:
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/how-often-solar-eclipse.html
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/total-solar-eclipse.html
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2018-july-27
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/list.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_eclipses_in_the_21st_century
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse
Written by Ioannis Bersos, terminology trainee at TermCoord. Ioannis was born in 1992 in Thessaloniki, Greece. He studied German Language and Literature at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Translation at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. He has worked as an academic assistant at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. He participated in various academic projects within the university. He speaks Greek, German and English and he is passionate about photography. His master’s thesis was on the languages that refugees who came to Germany in 2016 and 2017 speak.