Key Vocabulary: eclipse, rotation, title, totality, umbra, penumbra, waning, waxing, axis, corona, full moon, new moon, moon phase, orbit

Next Generation Science Standards: 

• MS-ESS1-1. Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.

The 2017 solar eclipse will be one most spectacular astronomical events of the decade. But how do they work? How come they don’t happen each month? And how do you view them safely? Watch our video, produced in collaboration with the Cincinnati Observatory, and learn all the science behind a solar eclipse!

Special thanks to our guest co-host Dean Regas of the Cincinnati Observatory for his helping making this video! Make sure that you check out his podcast Looking Up to learn about the latest astronomical discoveries and his PBS TV show Stargazers to learn what stars, planets, and other celestial bodies you can view with the naked eye.