The Moon's phases and Eclipses With the Sun

There are eight phases of the Moon. Some phases create eclipses. For example, the Hybrid eclipse is a rare eclipse that blocks most of the Sun’s light, except the perimeter of the Sun’s light. These eclipses are rare because the Moon’s placement is very crucial. If the Moon is too close to the Earth you would get a full eclipse where all the light of the Sun is blocked.

The ring eclipse is basically a hybrid eclipse, in this scenario the Moon is too far from the Earth so the umbra and penumbra show up smaller. When the Moon is facing the Sun its light reflects against the Moon so it seems normal. Even though the Moon changes its phase every twenty-eight days we don’t see an eclipse every 28 days because the Sun’s position matters too.

One reason the Sun’s position matters is if the Sun is facing the Moon on a side where the Earth can face to the Moon is going to get light from the Sun and the Moon seems normal to us. Some images can show the phases of the Moon. Looking at them it can be noticed that the Sun’s light is pointing in one direction for the whole cycle. That is because of how fast the Moon’s cycle is compared to the solar cycle, the Moon’s distance is not as far as the Sun’s distance so eclipses only happen once in a really long while. Every new Moon you don’t see any light of the Sun but the rest of the time you can see the light from the Moon’s side.

Why is the Moon only on one rotation of the Earth and not going on a planet’s course? It is not on its own course because the gravitational force of the Moon that keeps us all on the ground. If the Moon was on its own course then the solar eclipse would be so rare no one would know what the hybrid eclipse looks like in person for many decades!