Athens is just outside the zone of totality for the total solar eclipse Monday, April 8, which will be one of the biggest celestial events of the year. In Athens, the maximum eclipse will occur around 3:15 p.m. A solar eclipse happens because the moon orbits Earth and Earth orbits the sun. The planes of those two orbits are offset from one another by a 5-degree angle, and about every 18 months, the orbits line up, casting a shadow, Douglas Clowe, professor and director of the Astrophysics Institute, said. Click here to read the full story. |