Is there a full moon every month?

Answer 1

A solar eclipse has to occur when the moon passes directly between earth and the sun but usually the moon travels a little above or below the the sun in the sky. Edited by Gelert: It is not "a little bit", but is around 5 degrees.
We don't get a solar eclipse (moon obscuring the sun to earth) every month, since the alignment of the sun, moon and Earth is not exact enough. The moon sun and earth are not on the exact same plane, so most of the time when the moon passes in front of the sun, it is either too low or too high to cause a solar eclipse.

Answer 2

The Moon's orbit is at an angle to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun so most often the full/new moon is 'above' or 'below' the line directly from the Sun to the Earth so lunar/solar eclipses do not occur every month.

Answer 3

The moon orbits around the earth every 29 1/2 days and theoretically there should be a solar eclipse every 29 1/2 days and a lunar eclipse 14 3/4 days after the solar eclipse; there isn't but why?

Since New Moon occurs every 29 1/2 days, you might think that we should have a solar eclipse about once a month. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen because the Moon's orbit around Earth is tilted 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun. As a result, the Moon's shadow usually misses Earth as it passes above or below our planet at New Moon. At least twice a year, the geometry lines up just right so that some part of the Moon's shadow falls on Earth's surface and an eclipse of the Sun is seen from that region.

However what about lunar eclipses?

The Moon's orbit around Earth is actually tipped about 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun. This means that the Moon spends most of the time either above or below the plane of Earth's orbit. And the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun is important because Earth's shadows lie exactly in the same plane. During Full Moon, our natural satellite usually passes above or below Earth's shadows and misses them entirely. No eclipse takes place. But two to four times each year, the Moon passes through some portion of the Earth's partial or full shadows and one of the above three types of eclipses occurs.

Answer 4

It would be possible, actually inevitable, if the orbits of the earth and moon were exactly in the same plane. Since the orbits are inclined to each other at a slight angle then eclipses occur more rarely.

Answer 5

There is a full moon every 29.5 days, or approximately one per month.

Answer 6

Because a solar eclipse only occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are lined up.

Answer 7

Yes, there is a full moon every month because the lunar cycle takes about 29.5 days to complete, resulting in a full moon occurring approximately once a month.

Answer 8

no

Answer 9

No.