Eclipse of the Sun

This is when the Sun passes behind the Moon which hides it from view by the observer on Earth. So in fact it is the occultation of the Sun by the Moon. A solar eclipse is said to be total when the Moon completely masks the Sun, annular when the disk of the Moon is projected on the Sun leaving a concentric ring of light, partial when the Moon masks a part of the Sun and there is no total or annular eclipse.