A solar eclipse takes place at new moon when the sun, the moon, and the Earth fall in a straight line and the moon covers the Earth. The shadow of the moon, about 270 km in diameter, falls on the Earth. In this so-called umbra shadow, a broad strip on the surface of the Earth becomes dark for a few minutes and marks the completion of a 'total solar eclipse'. The penumbra of the moon is somewhat bigger-about 3000 km in diameter. In this area, the moon does not cover the sun completely. But we can observe how slowly the moon moves between the sun and the Earth.
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