Partial solar eclipse. Sequence of images of the setting Sun during the partial solar eclipse of 30th July 2000. The sequence runs from left to right. Solar eclipses occur when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, and the shadow of the Moon falls on the Earth. The Moon's shadow falls only on a narrow corridor on the Earth's surface, tracing out a curved path a few hundred kilometres wide from where a total eclipse is visible. Either side of this path, a partial eclipse can be seen. Partial eclipses can also occur where no part of the Earth witnesses a total eclipse.