Transcript: Solar eclipses are among the most spectacular phenomena that can occur in the sky. During a solar eclipse, the Earth darkens substantially during broad daylight; the temperature can drop 5 or 10 degrees. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, and the Moon casts its shadow on the Earth. Because the Moon shadow is much smaller than the Earth’s shadow, solar eclipses are much rarer than lunar eclipses. During a solar eclipse, the point or full shadow of the Moon, the umbra, casts darkness on the Earth’s surface. A larger annular region around the umbra called the penumbra has partial shadow. Because the Earth is rotating during a solar eclipse, the shadow tracks across the Earth’s surface at speeds approaching 1000 miles per hour. Therefore, as seen from any point on the Earth’s surface, solar eclipses last only a few minutes, at most, 6 or 7 minutes.