Indian Chronology (Solar, Lunar and Planetary): A Practical Guide to the Interpretation and Verification of Tithis, Nakshatras, Horoscopes and other Indian Time-records, B.C. 1 to A.D. 2000 c17.7

c17.7

86. "On the other hand, the Sun is a self-luminous body: the Moon is very much smaller than the Earth: she is, in fact, a mere point in comparison with the Sun. From these well-known facts it follows that in a solar eclipse, the Moon passing between the Earth and the Sun, cannot cut off the rays of the Sun from all parts of the Earth, at the same instant. She casts her shadow in succession on different parts of the Earth, and even the successive passage of the Moon's shadow covers during a single eclipse only a small total extent of the Earth's surface. Thus, journeying from West to East, a solar eclipse may first strike Spain, then France, then Germany, and then in succession the eastern countries as far as the farthest East of Asia, but the whole time Africa may remain untouched by the Moon's shadow".