Related Words

Eclipse: The obscuring of one celestial body by another.

Solar Eclipse: An eclipse of the sun occurs when the moon is in a direct line between the sun and the earth, casting some of the earth's surface in its shadow. The moon's disk shaped outline appears to cov . . . View Full Definition

Lunar Eclipse: An eclipse of the moon occurs when the earth is in a direct line between the sun and the moon. The moon does not have any light of its own, instead, it reflects the sun's light. During a lun . . . View Full Definition

Penumbral Eclipse: The term applied when the Moon passes through Earth's penumbra; the shadow does not obliterate the Moon form Earth's view but causes it to appear orangish or copper-colored.

Eclipsis: (Greek 'leaving out,' cf. Modern English eclipse) A type of enallage in which an author or poet omits essential grammatical elements to create a poetic or artful effect. One example might be . . . View Full Definition

Mutation: Any heritable change in the nucleotide sequence of DNA; can involve substitutions, insertions, or deletions of one or more nucleotides.

Saros: A period of 223 synodic months corresponding approximately to 19 eclipse years or 18.03 Julian years, and is a cycle in which solar and lunar eclipses repeat themselves under approximately t . . . View Full Definition

Occultation: From the Latin occultatio, a hiding; an eclipse of a planet. The term eclipse is usually applied to an occultation that hides the Sun or Moon from Earth's view; occultation describes eclipse . . . View Full Definition

Assurbanipal: (669-625 B.C.) King of Assyria. Astrological records found in tablets that once formed part of his library. It is stated by Diodorus Siculus (time of Cæsar and Augustus) that the Babylonian . . . View Full Definition

Chromosphere: A thin layer of relatively transparent gases above the photosphere of the sun. It is observed best during a total eclipse of the sun.