A TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE

occurs only at new moon when the Moon passes between the Earth

and Sun casting its shadow on the Earth;

is only visible from within the thin track of the shadow. This is usually less than 1%

of Earth's surface as seen in this diagram of the March 29th 2006 total eclipse : -

Diagram provided courtesy NASA/ Fred Espenak

 can be observed somewhere on Earth every 18 months;

from any one point on Earth an eclipse is visible approx once every 375 years;

 Why can't I see a solar eclipse every month?

A LUNAR ECLIPSE

Occurs when the Earth casts its shadow onto the Moon

Can only occur at full Moon when the Moon is on the opposite side off the Earth to the Sun;

Because of the inclined orbit of the Moon, lunar eclipses don't occur every month;

When a lunar eclipse occurs, anyone who can see the Moon can see the lunar eclipse unlike

a total solar eclipse where you have to position yourself within the narrow path of the shadow;

The red colour is caused by light passing through dust in the Earth's atmosphere, the same

phenomena that gives us red sunsets.

 Teachers : All the above information and more is condensed into one A3 poster.

Click here to download an image of this poster big enough to print A3 or even A2 [900kB]