What’s a lunar eclipse?
Lunar eclipses happen when the Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow. In a total lunar eclipse, the Moon and Earth are lined up so that the whole of the Moon is in shadow for a while. If they’re not completely aligned, only a part of the Moon will end up shaded (a partial eclipse). You’ve probably seen the Earth’s shadow hundreds of times without noticing – it’s right there every day at Sunset. As the Sun goes down, the Earth’s shadow rises in the eastern sky – making it a deep blue while the rest of the sky is pale blue or reddish. Is the Moon just going through a phase? The Moon looks like it’s going through all its different phases in one night during a total eclipse, but it’s not – it’s a full Moon all night long. We see the phases of the Moon because the Moon orbits us each month, so its position compared with the Earth and the Sun changes through its monthly cycle. Like the Earth, half the Moon is always lit by the Sun, and half is in shadow. Because the Moon orbits us once each mon
