NASA is doing its best to capture every important happening in space. It has set up all of the needed satellite to capture the upcoming alignment of stars and planets.
Even though the alignments of the stars and the planets have no certain impact for the people on the Earth, NASA is still recording most of them. This year, the geometric event, spring equinox, has occurred yesterday. Also, another major alignment, a total solar eclipse, which will be seen in the whole of U.S. on August 21, will be recorded, reported NASA.
NASA has explained the geometrical alignments for people to understand them better. The equinox, meaning "equal night" in Latin, happens when Earth is in the right position. When Earth is lined up to the sun, both of the northern and southern hemispheres will receive the equal amount of daylight. It only happens twice a year and it marks the start of spring. This year, the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere happened on March 20, yesterday. After six months, fall begins with the autumnal equinox on Sept. 22.
Another geometrical alignment is the solstice. The solstice marks the beginning of winter and summer. It is the longest and shortest days each side of the planet receives, Science Daily stated. New moon and full moons are also because of the
Full Moon and New Moon are also an example of geometrical alignment of the sun, Earth and the moon. When people on Earth are seeing the full face of the moon because of the reflection of light from the sun, it's a full moon. Meanwhile, the new moon is when the moon is between the sun and the Earth so no light can be reflected on it.
On the other hand, Lunar Eclipse happens when the perfect alignment of the Earth is between the Sun and the moon. What people see is the eclipse and the next lunar eclipse is going to happen on Aug. 7. It will be very visible throughout much of Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia. In contrast, solar eclipses happen when the moon blocks our view of the sun. It happens when a new moon is between the sun and the Earth.
Moreover, there are types of eclipses, the total and the annular. A total one happens when the moon blocks all of the sun's sunlight. One will actually occur on August 22 and the whole of America will see it. The annular one happens when the moon is farther away and it seems that it is smaller from Earth's point of view. The sun's outline can still be seen.