2. Total lunar eclipse over Baltasound
Pictured here is a full moon nearing a total lunar eclipse on Dec. 21, 2010, just before dawn in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. A lunar eclipse occurs when a full moon is opposite the sun in the sky.
But why do we not see a lunar eclipse each month with the full moon?
The answer lies in orbits. The moon’s orbit around Earth is tilted 5 degrees to the Earth’s orbit around the sun, so a lunar eclipse can only happen when the sun is exactly aligned with the Earth and the moon. This happens two to four times a year.
Still, lunar eclipses are more common than solar eclipses (when the moon is between the sun and the Earth) because the moon is much closer to the Earth than the sun.
Leave a Comment
Comments Feed