TED-Ed

Explore the science of what causes total solar eclipses, and find out how civilizations throughout history reacted to them. -- How can the shadow of the tiny moon eclipse the sight of the gargantuan sun? By sheer coincidence, the disc of the sun is 400x larger than the disc of the moon, but it's 390x farther from Earth -- which means that when they align just right, the moon blocks all but the sun's glowing corona. Andy Cohen details this extraordinary celestial phenomenon (and when it will next occur). Lesson by Andy Cohen, animation by Bevan Lynch. Support Our Non-Profit Mission ---------------------------------------------- Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon Check out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop ---------------------------------------------- Connect With Us ---------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram ---------------------------------------------- Keep Learning ---------------------------------------------- View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-creates-a-total-solar-eclipse-andy-cohen Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-creates-a-total-solar-eclipse-andy-cohen/digdeeper ----------------------------------------------