Why is there not an eclipse every full or new moon?

Answer 1

The Moon's orbit has an angle relative to the Earth's orbit, therefore only around twice a year we have an eclipse. The term solar eclipse describes the occurrence of when the moon travels between the Sun and the Earth, blocking the Sun's light from the Earth in the middle of the day, and generally giving the appearance of a ring of light in the darkened sky. During a lunar eclipse, the moon moves into the shadow of the Earth during night time hours, gradually blocking the view of the moon form the Earth.

Answer 2

An eclipse can only happen when the sun, moon and Earth are in a nearly perfect straight line. Eclipses don't happen every month because the plane of the Moon's orbit around the Earth is slightly tilted from the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. A Lunar Eclipse or Solar Eclipse occurs only when the Moon crosses the Sun-Earth plane at the precise time of Moon-Earth-Sun alignment.

Answer 3

Eclipses don't happen at every new or full moon because an eclipse can only occur when the moon, sun, and earth are aligned with each other. The moon's orbit is slightly inclined, and the orbit itself rotates. So, sometimes the moon is slightly above or below the sun during new moon, and slightly above or below the earth's shadow during full moon.

For an eclipse to occur, the moon must be at full or new moon during its passage through an ascending or descending node.

Answer 4

An eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow or the Earth passes through the Moon's shadow, which doesn't happen at every full or new moon because the Moon's orbit is tilted relative to Earth's orbit. This means that most of the time the Moon's shadow misses Earth, resulting in no eclipse.

Answer 5

the planets dont line up. (the sun and moon)