- Lunar eclipses can only occur during a full moon.
- Solar eclipses can only occur during a new moon.
- A Solar eclipse always occurs two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse.
- Eclipses very often occur in threes, alternating lunar, solar and lunar.
- The maximum time a lunar eclipse can last is 3 hours and 40 minutes.
- The longest time the Moon can stay in totality is 1 hour 40 minutes.
- The maximum time for a total solar eclipse is 7 minutes and 40 seconds.
- The maximum time for an annular solar eclipse is 12 minutes 24 seconds.
- Lunar eclipses can occur up to 3 times a year.
- Solar eclipses can occur at least 2 and no more than 5 times a year.
- Lunar eclipses are visible over an entire hemisphere.
- Solar eclipses are visible in a narrow path a maximum of 167 miles wide (269km.)
- At any geographic position on the Earth, a total solar eclipse occur an average of once every 360 years.
- The cycle of eclipses repeats every 18.6 years called the saros.
- The eclipse shadow moves at 2,000 mph at the Earth's poles and 1,000 mph at the Earth's equator.
Courtesy: Starryskies.com
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