the dark moon, comparing lunar and solar eclipses

I didn’t really see it, but I saw it on a video tape so it was safe to stare at the sun. How could this be happening? This was amazing being a four year old I wanted to burst, pass out, this was amazing! How did the moon and the sun align? What was going on? What was this miracle that was happening?

A lunar eclipse happens when the earth comes between the moon and sun. Now I look back at that moment, and wonder why did I act like that. Isn’t it obvious? It’s an eclipse, to be correct a solar eclipse. How did I not know that?? Then it hit me I was only FOUR. I hadn’t started school. I was starting in a few months, so I didn’t even know what 1+1 was. What was I thinking? And, number two, I didn’t know how to spell my name, which was surprising because I was already playing baseball. Lastly number three, I couldn’t write….. now I’m saying to myself I was only four I couldn’t spell my name, I couldn’t write, and I didn’t know what 1+1 was!! Then it hits me again, I was only four.

Some questions I have about lunar eclipses are, why are they called lunar eclipses? , how do they occur? Why do they occur?

Lunar eclipses happen 3 times a year. In order to have a lunar eclipse, the moon has to be in its full phase. The moon, earth, and sun have to be all in a line to be in totality [in that order]. Lunar eclipses are visible over an entire hemisphere. When there is a lunar eclipse you can see the earth’s shadow projected on the moon, the shadow shows that the earth is completely round. In a lunar eclipse, the earth blocks the sunrays from hitting the moon. The longest lunar eclipse lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes. During a lunar eclipse the moon looks red, but its not. The rays get diffused or scattered when they enter the earth’s atmosphere. A solar eclipse always happens two weeks before a lunar eclipse. Some questions I have about solar eclipses are, why are <!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->they called solar eclipses? , why are there more lunar eclipses than solar? How and why do they occur? A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes behind the sun and earth. Solar eclipses are only visible through a narrow path of 167 miles wide. So it’s not visible to everyone over an entire hemisphere. A solar eclipse can only occur when there is a new moon. Why? Solar eclipses can occur at least two times a year, but no more than 5. The max time a solar eclipse can take is 7 minutes and 40 seconds.

<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--> <!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->The Chinese have recorded eclipses for more than 1,000 years!! In Ireland there is a stone that seems to be a record of eclipse that took place in the year of 3340 B.C. Eclipses have been recorded for many years, to see some of the ways they have been recorded For thousands of years. The cycle of solar and lunar eclipses repeats every 18.6 years. This is called the Saros. The earth’s shadow has two parts: the umbra (inner full shadow). And the penumbra (outer partial shadow). The eclipse’s shadow travels at the speed of 2000 mph at the earth’s poles and 1000 at the equator.

The most recent solar eclipse occurred on January 4^th 2011. It wasn’t visible to Massachusetts. It was only a partial eclipse not a full eclipse so the moon wasn’t completely dark. The last full eclipse was on July 11 of 2010. The next full solar eclipse will happen on November 13 2012. The most recent lunar eclipse happened on December 21 2010. it was visible in California and called “one of the near greatest eclipse.” The next two lunar eclipses will occur on June 15 2011 and December 10 2011.

WORK CITED PAGE

http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0816707.html 9 March 2011: published 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse 11 March 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse 11 March 2011

http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0857876.html 11 March 2011

http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0857875.html 11 March 2011