The Sun, Moon, and Earth, oh my!

My first post is on lunar eclipses.

Lunar eclipses are caused when the sun's light is blocked by the earth and out of the moon's range. When this happens the moon goes through a "shadow cone called an umbra at which time the moon is invisible to the earth sky."(microsoft encarta corporation) The amount of time the moon stays in the umbra is dependant on how long the moon is out of the suns light. When there is a full lunar eclipse the moon may gain a red tint. I found this article interesting due to the lunar eclipse that is coming up in a couple of days.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761568140/eclipse.html

My second cite is on sunspots.

Sunspots are circles of black areas on the moon. Sunspots are caused by a "magnetic disruption across the sun's surface" causing it to cool.(microsoft encarta corporation) When this happen magnetic storms are created which travel to earth and can overload many electric items. Sunspots can last a fews days to a few months and can get as big as 384,500km. I liked this article on sunspots because I am fascinated by magnetism and electrical current.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701879658/Sunspots.html

posted by Zak A.