Eclipses are an amazing phenomena-unique to Earth-that have provided the key to much of what we now know and understand about the sun, our moon, gravity, and the workings of the universe. Mask of the Sun reveals the humanism behind the science of both lunar and solar eclipses. With insightful detail, Dvorak provides explanations as to how and why eclipses occur-as well as insight into the forthcoming eclipse of 2017 that will be visible across North...

"In 1915, British astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington was fascinated with Einstein's new theory of general relativity. The theory talks about how forces push and pull objects in space. Einstein said that the sun's gravity could pull and bend light. To test this, astronomers decided to photograph a solar eclipse. The eclipse would allow them to photograph the stars before and during the solar eclipse. If the star's position moved, then it was evidence...

"Did you know that comets are sometimes called "hairy stars?" Or that if you saw a sunset on the moon, the sun would look white because the moon doesn't have an atmosphere? You'll learn this and much more as you become an expert on the objects in the sky"--Publisher.