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Total lunar eclipse composite image by Fred Espenak.
A solar eclipse happens at new moon, when the moon passes between the sun and Earth. A lunar eclipse happens at the opposite moon phase – at full moon – when the Earth, sun and moon align in space, with Earth between the sun and moon. At such times, Earth’s shadow falls on the full moon, darkening the moon’s face and – at mid-eclipse – sometimes turning it a coppery red. We typically have between four and seven eclipses – some partial, some total, some lunar and some solar every year. Why aren’t there eclipses at
If the moon orbited Earth on the same plane that Earth circles the sun, then we d have a total lunar eclipse at each full moon, and a total solar eclipse at each new moon. But that doesn t happen because the lunar orbit is inclined to Earth s orbit by about 5 degrees.