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An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object moves into the shadow of another. The term is derived from the ancient Greek noun ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis), from verb ἐκλείπω (ekleípō), "I cease to exist," a combination of prefix ἐκ- (ek-), from preposition ἐκ, ἐξ (ek, ex), "out," and of verb λείπω (leípō), "I am absent". When an eclipse occurs within a stellar system, such as the Solar System, it forms a type of syzygy—the alignment of three or more celestial bodies in the same gravitational system along a straight line. |
