How Do ‘Eclipses’ Happen and Why Are They So Rare?

Eclipses happen when the moon, sun, and earth line up. Like when a friend blocks your view of a lamp, that's like a lunar eclipse. When you're between two friends, one blocking the light from the other, that's like a solar eclipse. But this lining-up doesn’t happen often because the moon’s orbit is tilted, it’s kind of like a wobbly dance in space!

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Examples

The moon blocks the sun during a solar eclipse like a giant cookie cutter in the sky.
Earth casts a shadow on the moon, making it look red, that's a lunar eclipse.
Imagine walking through a line of people and blocking the light from a lamp, that’s how eclipses work.

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Categories: Space · eclipse,space phenomena,moon,sun