Please note that these movies are long downloads for those with slow modems. The movies were created with Voyager III from Carina Software.

The December 25, 2000 Partial Solar Eclipse (1 meg)

This movie shows the view of the eclipse from the Dallas, TX, USA area beginning about 9:30 am local time. The eclipse was visible throughout most of North America, but it was not total anywhere.

The June 10, 2002 Solar Eclipse (1 meg)

This movie shows the view of the eclipse from the Dallas, TX, USA area beginning about 7:30 p.m. CDT. The partial eclipse was visible throughout the western half of North America. In the Dallas area about one-third of the sun was covered by the moon.

The August 21, 2017 Solar Eclipse (13 megs)

This is the first total solar eclipse visible from the United States in the 21st century. The path of totality goes through the states of Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Tennessee, and South Carolina. In this movie we view the eclipse from the moon looking back at the earth. The small black dot is the center of the earth's shadow (total eclipse) and the larger dark circle is the outer shadow (partial eclipse).

The Earth Phases (4 megs)

The earth goes through phases just like the moon, but you have to be in space to see earth phases. In this movie we are on the moon watching the earth. We begin when the earth is full and go through a full month. The phases of the earth (as viewed from the moon) are opposite of the moon's phases. For example, the movie begins with a full earth. On earth the moon would be in the new phase, and thus not visible.

The Moon's Orbit (4 megs)

The moon orbits the earth about once a month, but what would the moon's orbit look like if you were looking down on the solar system? Try to imagine the moon's orbit and then look at the movie. Are you surprised? The movie traces out the moon's orbit for one year.

Earth Seasons (8 megs)

This movie shows how the earth would look from the sun. We begin on the first day of spring, so the earth's equator is at the center of the picture. As we go through one year, notice how first the northern and then the southern hemispheres are tilted toward the sun. This tilting causes the seasons, not the distance between the earth and the sun. Notice also that the size of the earth seems to change because the earth's orbit is not a circle. We are a little closer to the sun in January, so the earth would look bigger then.

The Analemma (3 megs)

If you could mark the sun's position in the sky every day at the same time you'd notice that the sun's path makes a figure 8. This shape, often seen on globes, occurs because the earth's orbit is an ellipse (oval shape) and the earth is tilted 23.5 degrees. As the movie shows the path of the sun, notice the months in the counter near the bottom of the screen. As you would expect, the sun is highest in the sky in summer and lowest in winter.