Some facts about LUNAR ECLIPSES

• A total eclipse of the Moon occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that our planet blocks the Sun’s rays from striking the Moon.
• The Lunar eclipses can only occur at full moon.
• The next total lunar eclipse will occur on December 21, 2010.
• Eclipses are visible from the Moon, too:
• A lunar eclipse lasts for a few hours, whereas a total solar eclipse lasts for only a few minutes at any given place.
• A partial lunar eclipse occurs when only a portion of the Moon enters the umbra.
• The Chinese word for eclipse is chih, which means “to eat.”
• If the Earth had no atmosphere, the Moon would be completely dark during an eclipse.
• The maximum time a lunar eclipse can last is three hours and forty minutes.
• A Solar eclipse always occurs 2 weeks before or after a lunar eclipse.
• The longest time the Moon can stay in totality is 107 minutes.
• Lunar eclipses can occur up to 3 times a year.
• Lunar eclipses are visible over an entire hemisphere.
• When Columbus and his men were stranded in Jamaica for 6 months, the natives refused to feed them, so Columbus, having read in his almanac that a lunar eclipse was about to occur, told them that God was angry and was going to obliterate the Moon. The natives freaked out and asked Columbus to intervene. He "talked" to God, the Moon came back and they were lavished with food.