Which type of eclipse occurs with the greatest frequency?

Answer 1

The eclipse that occurs with most frequency is The Annular Eclipse. Here is a little explanation.

This eclipse is actually a special kind of partial eclipse called an annular eclipse. During an annular eclipse, the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun but is unable to completely cover it because the Moon's disk appears smaller than the Sun. The annular phase of the eclipse can only be seen from a very narrow track called the path of annularity. Although June's annular path is nearly 14,000 kilometers long, it is only 13 to 78 kilometers wide. The path of annularity is plotted in blue on the global map of the eclipse (also available in Medium and High resolution).

From Asia and the western Pacific, the eclipse actually occurs on June 11 because of the International Date Line. The annular path begins at 20:53 UT2 along the north coast of Sulawesi. Racing across the Celebes Sea, the antumbra3 engulfs the Indonesian islands of Pulau Sangihe and Kepulauan Talaud. The annular phase lasts just over one minute with the early morning Sun 6° above the horizon.

Leaving Indonesia, the shadow's trajectory takes it over a long track across the Pacific. As it does so, the curvature of Earth's surface causes the path width and central duration to gradually decrease. The antumbra reaches the southern end of the Northern Mariana Islands chain at 22:10 UT. Guam lies just 40 kilometers south of the 47 kilometer wide path and will experience a deep partial eclipse of magnitude4 0.975. About 180 kilometers northeast of Guam, the islands Saipan and Tinian span the northern limit of the annular track. Tinian's southern tip extends a dozen kilometers into the path but still falls 10 kilometers short of the centerline 5. Nevertheless, most of the 53 second long annular phase of magnitude 0.988 will be seen from this location with the Sun 32° above the horizon.

From this point on, the antumbra encounters no other populated islands across the Pacific. Greatest eclipse6 occurs at 23:48:15 UT about 2600 kilometers northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. The duration of the annular phase lasts a scant 23 seconds, but the event takes place in open ocean with no landfall in sight.

As the track begins to swing to the southeast, its width and central duration begin to increase once again but no other islands lie in its path. Just before reaching its terminus, the antumbra passes 50 kilometers south of the southern tip of Baja, Mexico at 01:32 UT. In the final seconds of its earthbound trajectory, the shadow reaches the Pacific coast of Mexico, 30 kilometers south of Puerto Vallarta. Under favorable weather conditions, observers on the centerline will witness a spectacular ring of fire on the horizon as the Sun sets just after annularity. The central duration is 1 minute 7 seconds and the magnitude is 0.981. Atmospheric refraction will actually displace the end of the path to the southeast so that the entire annular phase will occur before sunset for observes on or near the coast.

The antumbral shadow leaves Earth's surface at 01:35 UT. Over the course of 3 hours and 47 minutes, the Moon's antumbra travels along a path approximately 14,700 kilometers long and covering 0.2% of Earth's surface area. Path coordinates and centerline circumstances are presented in Table 1.

Answer 2

An eclipse involving the Sun, Earth and Moon can occur only when they are nearly in a straight line. Because the orbital plane of the Moon is tilted with respect to the orbital plane of the Earth (the ecliptic), eclipses can occur only when the Moon is close to the intersection of these two planes (the nodes). The Sun, Earth and nodes are aligned twice a year, and eclipses can occur during a period of about two months around these times. There can be from four to seven eclipses in a calendar year, which repeat according to various eclipse cycles, such as the Saros cycle.
Lunar eclipses occur when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow. Since this occurs only when the Moon is on the far side of the Earth from the Sun, lunar eclipses only occur when there is a full moon. Unlike a solar eclipse, an eclipse of the Moon can be observed from nearly an entire hemisphere. For this reason it is much more common to observe a lunar eclipse from a given location. A lunar eclipse also lasts longer, taking several hours to complete, and totality can last from 30 minutes to an hour.

Answer 3

Honestly, both lunar and solar eclipses seem to occur on a pretty equal basis. Sometimes you may see one type one year and the other type the next year. Sometimes you'll see both, or only one occur twice a year. Over time, it tends to even out.

However, lunar eclipses tend to be easier to see by everyone in an entire hemisphere while a solar eclipse requires you to be in the right area to see it. So lunar eclipses are more commonly seen by the majority of people.

I would say both are an enjoyable experience.

Answer 4

What do you mean by types? I would say total lunar eclipses happen most often.

The solar eclipse: 11,898 over 5000 years. Types are:
* Total Solar -- the Moon's dark umbra touches the Earth, so the Sun is completely darkened at small regions of the Earth's surface. About 26.7% of solar eclipses are this type.
* Annular Solar -- the Moon is too far away for the umbra to touch the Earth, leaving a thin ring of sunlight (the "annulus") visible around the Moon's dark side. About 33.2% of solar eclipses are this type.
* Partial Solar -- the Moon's dark umbra misses the earth, but the lighter penumbra part of its shadow touches the Earth near the North or South Pole. The Sun is only partially blocked. About 35.3% of solar eclipses are this type.
* Annular/Total Solar -- a "hybrid" eclipse that starts out annular, turns total, and finishes annular once more. About 4.8% of solar eclipses are this type.

The lunar eclipse: 12,186 over 5000 years. Types are:
* Total Lunar -- the Full Moon passes through the Earth's umbra and turns completely dark. About 38.8% of lunar eclipses are this type.
* Partial Lunar -- the Moon moves across the boundary of the Earth's umbra and penumbra, so it appears dark except for a normal looking crescent of brightness. About 34.6% of lunar eclipses are this type.
* Appulse Lunar -- also known as a "penumbral lunar eclipse", the Moon moves through only the Earth's penumbra and is only slightly dimmed. About 36.7% of lunar eclipses are this type.

Answer 5

Lunar eclipse has greater frequency.Because size of moon is very small compared to sun.