Why is the lunar eclipse's duration is different from the solar eclipse's duration?

Question

My assignment. I need the answer fast.

Answer 1

The main reason is that the Earth's shadow is much bigger than the Moon's shadow. Both eclipses (solar and lunar) are caused by the motion of the Moon in its orbit (between the Earth and Sun (solar) or "behind" the Earth, with the Earth between the Moon and Sun (lunar).



Since the Moon barely covers the Sun, total eclipses of the Sun always last less than 10 minutes as the Moon's shadow falls on the Earth (as a 160 mile wide oval/circle). BUT from the Moon, the Earth is much larger (wider) and completely covers the Sun (from the Moon's viewpoint) for a much longer period of time (over an hour of total eclipse).

Answer 2

Because they are different things.

Lunar eclipse: moon is in Earth's shadow

Solar eclipse: part of Earth is in Moon's shadow.



The solar eclipse on August 1, 2008, lasted for 2 hours 21 seconds as the moon's shadow sweeps across the Earth. But you would have to be a fast airplane to get the full 2 hours 21 seconds. At any one spot, the eclipse lasts for less than 2 minutes 28 seconds.



The lunar eclipse on June 15, 2011, will last for 1 hour and 40 minutes, which is about as long as a total lunar eclipse can get. About 1/3 the world will be able to see the full duration of this eclipse.

Answer 3

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes in front of the Sun. The two objects appear almost exactly the same size in the sky, therefore the time for which the entire disc of the Sun is covered by the Moon's disc is small, because almost as soon as the leading edeg covers the last part of the Sun the trailing edge begins uncovering the other side.



On the other hand, a lunar eclipse is when the Moon passes into the shadow of the Earth. The Earth's shadow has a much larger diameter than the Moon, hence when the leading edge covers the last part of the Moon the trailing edge is still some way from the other side of the Moon, and the Moon can remain in Earth's shadow for much longer.

Answer 4

Lunar Eclipse Duration

Answer 5

With a lunar eclipse, anyone on Earth can see the whole show the entire time (as long as the moon is above the horizon and it's not cloudy). The moon enters the shadow of the Earth, and the Earth casts a much larger shadow then the moon does, so the moon spends more time in shadow than Earth.







With a solar eclipse, only people along a tiny band of locations can see the event. The lunar shadow is much smaller, and only a small part of the Earth actually falls within it.

Answer 6

A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth comes between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun from hitting the moon.



A solar eclipse comes about when when the moon comes between the sun and the earth.



Just think about the different sizes of the bodies involved, and you will get an understanding of why there is a difference.

Answer 7

NASA's eclipse web pages have some good pictures and explanations. The basic idea is that the sun is much bigger than the moon, and the darkest part of the shadow of the moon is pretty narrow. It only hits a small portion of earth and things aren't lined up for long. So a solar eclipse is only visible in a small area of earth and not for long.



Read the stuff here, you'll get very detailed explanations.

http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html

http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/SEprimer.html