Now and then we have what is called an _Annular_ eclipse. The round dark body of the Moon is seen upon the face of the Sun, and a bright rim of the Sun is all round the Moon. It seems odd that at one time the Moon should quite hide the Sun, and that at another time the Moon should be too small to hide him. The reason is that the Moon is sometimes a little nearer to us, sometimes a little farther away; and the Sun too is the same--sometimes a little nearer, sometimes a little farther. If an eclipse happens just when the Moon is at her farthest from us, and so seems her smallest, while the Sun is at his nearest to us, and so seems his biggest, then she is not large enough to cover his whole face. But if the Sun is at his farthest, and the Moon at her nearest, she can hide him entirely. When a Total Eclipse is foretold, astronomers are eager to make the most of it. Telescopes are pointed at him, and photographs are taken. Much can be seen during a total eclipse which is hidden from us at other times, because the dazzling brilliance of the Sun’s body is for a few seconds cut off from our eyes. The ocean of fire round the Sun is seen at his edge, outside the dark body of the Moon, by those who look through telescopes; also the sharp mountains of fiery gases, and the soft broad crown of light spreading away on all sides. But the very utmost has to be made of each moment. Hardly has the Moon’s body covered the whole face of the Sun before she begins to move away from the side which first she seemed to touch; and as a bright line of light appears there, these wonderful sights vanish. Remember, an Eclipse of the Sun never happens except at the time of New Moon. It is only then that the Moon can possibly be just between the Sun and our Earth. Another kind of Eclipse, however, may happen at Full Moon; and that is an eclipse of the Moon herself. An ECLIPSE OF THE MOON is partly like and partly unlike an Eclipse of the Sun. In an Eclipse of the Sun we have the solid body of the Moon gliding in between, and hiding his light from us though all the time the Sun shines on just the same, behind the Moon. [Illustration: _At 9:32._] [Illustration: _At 9:37._] _Eclipse of the Moon. January 28, 1888._ In an eclipse of the Moon we, on the Earth, have no solid body between us and the Moon. Her brightness is not simply hidden, it is for the moment quenched by a shadow. For the shadow of our Earth falls upon her. The Moon is bright only when the sunshine makes her bright. When the solid body of the Earth, gliding in between, cuts off the sunlight from her, then the Moon shines no longer. So long as she is plunged in the Earth’s shadow she is all dark. You have seen with a lamp and a big ball how the Sun can be eclipsed by the Moon.