Eclipse of the moon
© Christopher Collins/Alamy
Eclipse of the moon
There are at least two lunar eclipses every year, one in spring and another in autumn. But they’re not always visible to everyone on Earth, as the eclipse requires syzygy—the alignment of the sun, Earth, and moon. With the sun behind the Earth, our planet’s shadow, the umbra, falls onto the moon’s surface, giving it a reddish appearance. That’s why a total lunar eclipse is sometimes called a blood moon.
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