Setting the Stage for the next few months!

A solar eclipse is a celestial event where the moon passes between the Sun and planet Earth, resulting in the moon blocking our view of the Sun, either totally or partially from a particular point on Earth.  This time around the path of the Solar Eclipse is at the southern part of South America through Argentina and Chile.

On Wednesday, October 2 we have a Solar Eclipse in the theme of Libra which is engaging the South Node.  Lunar Nodes are the North Node in Aries which is the direction of where we are heading and the South Node of where we have been which is in Libra.  Aries has the theme of your relationship with yourself, and Libra is all relationships, partnerships, and how you project yourself.  This is the last Eclipse with the nodes in Aries and Libra.  The focus of this eclipse is releasing past relationships, those that do not serve our highest and best.    Officially, the nodes change to Pisces and Virgo on January 12, 2025.

There are three different types of solar eclipses:

• Partial: A portion of the Sun is covered
• Annular: A ‘ring of fire’ shines around the moon, centered in front of the sun
• Total: The Sun is fully covered by the moon

The type of eclipse depends on the alignment of the moon, Earth, and the Sun, and how far away the moon is from Earth.
There is also an eclipse known as a hybrid, which is a combination of a total and annular eclipse where the moon’s shadow moves across Earth.

Partial Solar Eclipse
A partial solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the Sun and Earth, but the alignment is not perfect. This causes only part of the Sun to be covered by the moon, leaving a crescent-shaped Sun that is visible from Earth.

Because there is such a narrow path/area to observe a total solar eclipse, those outside the path would view a partial solar eclipse. The amount of Sun covered would depend on how far away the observer’s location was from the path.

Annular Solar Eclipse
An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon, located in the middle of the Sun, doesn’t completely cover the entire disk of the Sun. This results in a thin ring of sunlight that is visible around the outside of the moon.
This type of eclipse is only visible from a very narrow path on the Earth’s surface, with the duration dependent on the location of the observer.
During this type of eclipse, the moon is furthest away from Earth in its orbit, which is why it looks as though the moon is actually smaller than the Sun. Given this dynamic between the moon and the sun, the alignment of these objects must be just right in order to create an annular eclipse.

Total Solar Eclipse
A total solar eclipse is when the moon completely blocks the Sun, creating a shadow on the Earth’s surface. The Sun’s corona is a visible halo around the dark moon in front of the Sun.
The sky becomes dark in the path of totality, which is usually only a few dozen miles wide. This path will stretch across the Earth’s surface in a narrow band. Outside of the path, observers will see a partial solar eclipse where a greater portion of the Sun is visible the further away, they are from totality.
These types of eclipses are rarer because they require a precise alignment between the moon and the Sun. They can also only occur during a new moon phase and when the moon is closest to Earth in its orbit.

More on the Lunar Nodes in January of 2025!