However, this example of legal political patronage can very easily become an example of corruption. If, while campaigning for governor, the candidate asked for someone's support in exchange for a position in his or her administration, this would be an act of illegal patronage.
A solar eclipse happens when the moon blocks the sun from the earth, and a lunar eclipse when the earth blocks the sun from the moon. Because the apparent diameter (how big it looks) of the moon is about the same as the sun, the alignment of the earth, moon and sun have to be almost perfect for a solar eclipse to occur.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometers wide. This eclipse is the 22nd of the 77 members of Saros series 145, the one that also produced the solar eclipse of August 11, 1999.