A friend of mine asked me what the difference between a solar and lunar eclipse was, and I thought it would be an excellent topic for ADYK!
A solar eclipse is what most people think of when they hear about an eclipse. This is when the full moon crosses directly between the sun and earth, blocking out some or all of the sun's light. A total solar eclipse is when the moon blocks out all of the sun's light, allowing us to view the solar corona. The sun's corona is the super hot plasma surrounding the sun that's only visible with special telescopes, and during solar eclipses. The next partial solar eclipse will occur on July 1st, but few will see it as it will only be visible from a small region in the middle of the Antarctic ocean.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind the Earth in just the right spot such that the Earth's shadow falls on the moon, blocking the sun's light from reaching it. Lunar eclipses can be seen from anywhere on Earth the night they occur, unlike solar eclipses that can only be seen from a tiny portion of the planet. This is because of the orientation of the moons orbit with respect to earth's rotation. The next total lunar eclipse visible from the US is April 15, 2014.
