march 3rd there was a Total Lunar Eclipse today there was a Partial Solar Eclipse, who often does this happen.

Question

That is about 15 days apart. what is interseting is that on Total August 28 there is a Total Lunar Eclipse and on September 11 there is a Partial Solar Eclipse. That is also about 15 days.

Ok What the queston was meant to say was why did two eclpes come so close together.

Answer 1

Both solar and lunar eclipses happen when the plane of the Moon's orbit crosses the plane of the Earth's near the new or full Moon. The points where this happens are called nodes, and there are two of them, on opposite sides of the Moon's orbit. These nodal points move rather slowly, completing a cycle in around nineteen years, so if the New Moon happens near enough one node to cause a solar eclipse, either the next or previous Full Moon is apt to be close enough to the other node to produce a lunar eclipse.

Answer 2

Hi Bowler!

It happens every single time! Eclipses ALWAYS occur in pairs. It is impossible to have just one in an eclipse season.

Here's the reason. Eclipses occur during eclipse seasons, which are as much as 37 days long. There are at least two eclipse seasons a year.

Since new moons and full moons are only about 15 days apart, you can quickly see that when the first eclipse happens in the eclipse season, the moon will still not have escaped the 37-day eclipse corridor two weeks later. So there MUST be a second eclipse.

Sometimes there will be three eclipses in one season. Say there is a perfectly-aligned total lunar eclipse in the middle of the seaon. There likely will be two shallow partial solar eclipses, one a fortnight before and the other two weeks after.

Other times, you may have a total lunar eclipse followed by a total eclipse of the sun in the polar regions. Or, as in this season of March 2007, a total eclipse of the moon that's not quite dead-center, followed by a partial eclipse of the sun.

An eclipse, like happiness, is born a twin. You never have just one!

Answer 3

Total solar eclipses are rare events. Although they occur somewhere on Earth approximately every 18 months, it has been estimated that they recur at any given place only once every 370 years, on average.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/UpcomingEclipses.html

I think the reason that they occured so close together is that any eclipse requires the 3 bodies to be in perfect alignment. This should make it more likely that then at least a partial eclipse of the opposite type should happen soon since it also requires good alignment.

if you compare the full solar eclipse dates to lunar eclipses, you will see that they are usually fairly close together (within 2 weeks)

Answer 4

Lunar eclipses ensue 2-three times a three hundred and sixty 5 days, mutually as photograph voltaic eclipses ensue in basic terms two times a three hundred and sixty 5 days. additionally, lunar eclipses are thoroughly risk-free to view with the bare eye, mutually as with a photo voltaic eclipse, you are able to in basic terms look at it for see you later before the solar comes out returned and virtually blinds you. Oh, and lunar eclipses are curiously able to being seen by extra areas on the comparable time (frequently the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia), mutually as photograph voltaic eclipses have a plenty narrower variety over distinctive areas that varies plenty.