Eclipse facts

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.

Constellations

The Solar System