Solar Eclipse
March 20th 2015.
There was great excitement in the school today with the first Solar Eclipse in Ireland for over 16 years. None of the children were born when the last one took place in August 1999. If you can remember that far back, it was a little disappointing around Cork as it was cloudy on that day. But today did not disappoint, and almost exactly to the time when the eclipse was starting, the sun came out from behind the clouds and all of the children were able to witness a spectacular event.
Ms Roche's class using the eclipse classes to view the Solar Eclipse
Some of the children from Ms Chawke's class doing likewise.
The Eclipse began at exactly 8.24am and over the next two hours we were able to view the different stages of the eclipse. The Maximum eclipse occurred at 9.26am, and all of the teachers and pupils could tell you that we all noticed the drop in temperatures and also how dark it got. It was also a little eerie when the birds stopped singing, they must have thought it was time to go to bed again!
What causes a Solar Eclipse?
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and blocks out the direct light of the Sun. When it is a total eclipse the Moon blocks out the Sun completely, forming a shadow. We experienced a 92% solar eclipse in school today!
Solar Eclipses are possible because the Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun, but the Sun is 400 times further away. So the tiny Moon is in the right place to exactly cover the giant Sun! Total Eclipses only occur during the New Moon (no Moon) phase, when the Moon comes between the Sun and the Earth . The Sun, Moon and Earth must be aligned in a perfect straight line, called a syzygy for a total eclipse to occur, this is why it doesn't happen every month.
Research shows that our ancient Irish ancestors carved images of an eclipse on ancient stone megaliths over 5000 years ago, November 30th 3340 BCE. It is situated at Loughcrew in Co. Meath. It is far older than any eclipses recorded by the early Egyptians, Chinese and Babylonians!!
The next eclipse we will witness in Ireland will not happen again until 2026, 11 years from now, so here is looking forward to a whole new bunch of children, who will be in Scoil Niocláis when this happens.
This was a great picture taken by Mr Owen's when the eclipse was coming to an end.
Ms Lingwood enjoying the view
The children using a pin hole on some cardboard projecting onto a white sheet of paper to observe the Moon as it passed in front of the Sun.
Hope you enjoy the song!!!!!
