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Why are there only lunar eclipses when the moon is a full moon

2 Answers

4 votes

Answer:

Because the moon's orbit around Earth lies in a slightly different plane than Earth's orbit around the sun, perfect alignment for an eclipse doesn't occur at every full moon. A total lunar eclipse develops over time, typically a couple hours for the whole event.

Step-by-step explanation:

answered
User Mohanraj
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8.5k points
3 votes

Answer:

Because the moon's orbit around Earth lies in a slightly different plane than Earth's orbit around the sun, perfect alignment for an eclipse doesn't occur at every full moon. A total lunar eclipse develops over time, typically a couple hours for the whole event.

answered
User Ryszard
by
8.5k points
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