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Solar and lunar eclipse diagrams: Two diagrams of a solar and lunar eclipse. At the time of the solar eclipse (on the left) the moon is midway between the earth and the sun, which is in the east. The moon hides some of the light from the sun and casts a shadow on the earth. At the time of a lunar eclipse (on the right) the earth, between the sun in the west and the moon, casts its shadow on the moon, which is dark. These phenomena occur only when the sun, earth, and moon are aligned.

The sun has a human face surrounded by rays. The two other bodies are in black and white, or light and darkness, according to their positions. The concentric circles of the spheres are inscribed “Crocodile’s head” (ראש תנין) on the external circle and “Crocodile’s tail” (זנב תנין) below the inner circle. The crocodile’s head and tail are two astronomical points which virtually indicate where the orbit of the moon and that of the sun intersect as viewed from the earth (for an explanation of the diagram in our Sefer Evronot, see Sefer ha-Galgal, part four, MS II:135v-136v).