... You note that the Earth orbits around the Sun in a counterclockwise direction. ... 7] In one of the eclipses of 1999 the Moon is unable to cover the entire Sun. ... If an object were to be placed in the Earth orbit but with no velocity relative to the Sun, it would fall sunward. ... You may assume that the width of the Earth is 3.5 times that of the Moon (see problem 15), that the Moon is 60 Earth radii from the center of Earth and that, as seen from Earth, it is equal in size to the Sun. ...

Educator's Guide to Eclipses . ... In a solar eclipse you observe the Sun (using only safe methods, of course). ... In a lunar eclipse you observe the Moon. ... Because of the geometry described below, you can only view a solar eclipse when the Sun is up, and the Moon is nowhere to be seen. ... Eclipses occur when the Sun, Earth and Moon line up. ... In a solar eclipse the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun. ... In a lunar eclipse the Moon moves into Earth's shadow. ...

... The greater the distance, the smaller the parallax. ... That triangle has the same proportions as the much larger triangle ABC, and therefore, if the distance B'C to the thumb is 10 times the distance A'B' between the eyes, the distance AC to the far landmark is also 10 times the distance AB. ... The most distant objects our eyes can see are the stars, and they are very far indeed: light which moves at 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second, would take years, often many years, to reach them. ...