Why lunar eclipse differs from a solar eclipse?

Answer 1

A lunar eclipse is when the moon goes dark during the night. A solar eclipse is when the sun goes dark during the day.

In a lunar eclipse, the sun is on one side of the earth. The moon is on the other. So the earth gets in the way of the sunlight that is normally shinning on the moon, causing the moonlight. At the point when the earth is in the way, the moon either goes dark or becomes a dim red. Anyone can see a lunar eclipse as long as they are in the night time half of the earth.

In a solar eclipse, the sun lines up with the moon on the same side of the earth.

So the moon blocks out the sun on a particular part of the earth. So, for the minutes that it takes the moon and the earth to move into and out of alignment, the day becomes dark and eerie. The eclipse is only visible on the earth for about 200 miles within the path of the sun and the moon intersection, (the path of totality). And since a total solar eclipse only happens anywhere on the earth 70/100 years, it usually only a once in a lifetime opportunity to see it. The next total eclipse will be just off the East Coast of Japan. It will last for 6'29" on July 22, 2009. But people will be able to see a partial effect starting in India and reaching across the ocean

Solar eclipses have some extra vocabulary. Here are some interesting ones:

UMBRA= The shadow of the moon, (like an umbrella)

PENUMBRA= a partial area where the moon is outside the path of totality and there is

only a partial view of the eclipse

Corona= the ring or halo around the sun during the total eclipse- The sunshine still

extends around the sun.