catchylife

[Picture of an Eclipse, from blog.roodo.com]

-15 facts about an Eclipse

1. -Lunar eclipses can only occur during a full moon.
2. -Solar eclipses can only occur during a new moon.
3. -A Solar eclipse always occurs two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse.
4. -Eclipses very often occur in threes, alternating lunar, solar and lunar.
5. -The maximum time a lunar eclipse can last is 3 hours and 40 minutes.
6. -The longest time the Moon can stay in totality is 1 hour 40 minutes.
7. -The maximum time for a total solar eclipse is 7 minutes and 40 seconds.
8. -The maximum time for an annular solar eclipse is 12 minutes 24 seconds.
9. -Lunar eclipses can occur up to 3 times a year.
10. -Solar eclipses can occur at least 2 and no more than 5 times a year.
11. -Lunar eclipses are visible over an entire hemisphere.
12. -Solar eclipses are visible in a narrow path a maximum of 167 miles wide (269km.)
13. -At any geographic position on the Earth, a total solar eclipse occur an average of once every 360 years.
14. -The cycle of eclipses repeats every 18.6 years called the saros.
15. -The eclipse shadow moves at 2,000 mph at the Earth's poles and 1,000 mph at the Earth's equator.

Fun facts

1. Special Solar Eclipse Glasses let you see the partial eclipse, but not the total eclipse!
2. Even though the Eclipse is scientific, there is a chewing gum named Eclipse.
3. Many people think that a comets tail is always following behind it, but actually the coma, or tail can either be behind the comet or in front of it. Depending on which way the tail is pointing depends on where the Sun is. That's right, the Sun's heat and radiation produce a wind called the Solar Wind, as a comet gets close to the Sun it begins to melt. The gas and dust that melt off are blown away from the Sun by the solar winds. So if a comet is traveling towards the Sun then the tail will follow behind, but if the comet is traveling away from the Sun the tail will be in front of the comet.
4. If you weighed 70 pounds on the Earth, you would weigh about 27 pounds on Mars!So those who are overweight,you don't need to worry.Just go Mars!

*[Information from AstronomyKids.com]