How often does an eclipes happen?

Answer 1

There are generally two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses each year. Sometimes instead of having one total eclipse, we have two partial eclipses a month apart. The minimum number of eclipses in any year is one; the maximum possible would be five.

We get the idea that lunar eclipses are more common than solar eclipses, but that's not true. It SEEMS that way, because solar eclipses (when the Moon's shadow hits the Earth) affect a very small path across the Earth's surface, and people outside this path don't generally notice the eclipse. But a lunar eclipse, when the Earth's shadow darkens the Moon, happens ON THE MOON, and is visible from the entire night half of the Earth. So many more people get to see a lunar eclipse, while only a few are in the path of a solar eclipse.