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English: A diagram illustrating the difference between a full moon and a lunar eclipse, and the difference between a new moon and a solar eclipse. This is caused by the 5° incline of the moon's orbital plane around earth, meaning that an eclipse can only happen when the moon is nearly in line with the nodal line.
There would be a lunar eclipse at every full moon, and a solar eclipse at every new moon. It is because of the non-planar differences that eclipses are not a common event. If both orbits were perfectly circular, then each eclipse would be the same type every month. Lunar eclipses can be viewed from the entire nightside half of the Earth.
This causes an eclipse season approximately every six months, in which a solar eclipse can occur at the new moon phase and a lunar eclipse can occur at the full moon phase. At least two lunar eclipses and as many as five occur every year, although total lunar eclipses are significantly less common than partial lunar eclipses.
A lunar eclipse appears when the Earth stands between the moon and the sun. This blocks the sunlight from the moon, making it appear in hues of orange, brown, red — or even, black out entirely.
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The rarity of today's event has many curious about the nature of eclipses and the difference between the two kinds.
The following other wikis use this file: Usage on ca.wikipedia.org Nodes de la Lluna; Eclipsi de Lluna; Astrologia occidental; Usage on cbk-zam.wikipedia.org
This causes an eclipse season approximately every six months, in which a solar eclipse can occur at the new moon phase and a lunar eclipse can occur at the full moon phase. Because the orbit of the Moon is inclined only about 5.145° to the ecliptic and the Sun is always very near the ecliptic, eclipses always occur on or near it.