It happens when the earth is between the sun and moon so when the moon is opposite the sun it has full light from the sun on it ie full moon When the moon is inbetween the earth and sun (solar eclipse) then it will always be a new moon Bob Moore Commerce CRG - Salt Lake City office 175 East 400 South, Suite 700 Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Direct: 801-303-5418 Main: 801-322-2000 Fax: 801-322-2040 BMoore@commercecrg.com www.commercecrg.com -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Ann Blanchard Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 1:10 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Lunar Eclipse Question I'm sure this is an obvious question for you folks, but why is the lunar eclipse always at a full moon? (We may not get to see it tonight, but I'd love to at least learn something). Thanks for putting up with what I'm cringing to think is a dumb question. Ann M. Blanchard Executive Assistant to the Associate VP Undergraduate Studies 110 Sill University of Utah (801) 581-3188 a.blanchard@ugs.utah.edu _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com

A lunar eclipse always happens at full moon because it's only when the sun is directly on the other side of Earth that the moon can move into the shadow of the Earth. When the sun and moon are at opposite sides, it's a full moon because the sun is shining on the entire moon (unless it gets into Earths shadow). The same sort of logic holds for new moons and solar eclipses. -- Joe On Feb 20, 2008, at 1:09 PM, Ann Blanchard wrote:

I'm sure this is an obvious question for you folks, but why is the lunar eclipse always at a full moon? (We may not get to see it tonight, but I'd love to at least learn something). Thanks for putting up with what I'm cringing to think is a dumb question.

Ann M. Blanchard

Executive Assistant to the Associate VP

Undergraduate Studies

110 Sill

University of Utah

(801) 581-3188

a.blanchard@ugs.utah.edu

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