Solar Eclipses occur when the Sun is obscured by the Moon, an occasion when the Sun, the Moon and the Earth are in near alignment, and the Earth moves into the Moon's umbra or penumbra.

There are three kinds of Solar Eclipses, namely Total Solar Eclipses, Partial Solar eclipses and Annular Solar Eclipses.

Since the Moon's orbit around the Earth is not in the same plane as the Earth's orbit around the Sun, eclipses do not occur every month. However, contrary to popular belief, solar eclipses are not at all rare. In any one calendar year, there are at least two Solar Eclipses. In some years, notably the year 2000, there are as many as four. As the path of totality is very narrow, people in a certain region can only observe, on average, a Partial Solar Eclipse every two to three years, while the chance of observing a truly remarkable Total Solar Eclipse is extremely remote. No Total Solar Eclipses will be visible from Hong Kong in the coming century. Nevertheless, we will still be able to see a Partial Solar Eclipse in 2002 and an annular one in 2012.

For more detail, you can go to Teacher's Corner " Nature of the Universe Chapter 7 ─ The Moon and Eclipses" .

Forthcoming solar eclipses from 2005 to 2010: