where is the moon located during a solar eclipse
between the Sun and Earth
title: Solar eclipses on the Moon text: Solar eclipses on the Moon Solar eclipses on the Moon are caused when the Earth passes in front of the Sun, blocking its light. Viewers on Earth will see a lunar eclipse. The solar eclipses are only seen in the Nearside portion and smaller parts of the Farside where the Earth is seen during librations, making up the visible portion of the Moon and eclipses there are seen during the lunar sunrise and sunset as well as furthermost areas of the Nearside but mainly not in the polar areas of the Moon. As the Moon revolves around the Earth, the title: Lunar eclipse text: Lunar eclipse A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind Earth and into its shadow. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned (in syzygy), with Earth between the other two. A lunar eclipse can occur only on the night of a full moon. The type and length of a lunar eclipse depend on the Moon's proximity to either node of its orbit. During a total lunar eclipse, Earth completely blocks direct sunlight from reaching the Moon. The only light reflected from the lunar surface has been refracted by Earth's title: Solar eclipse text: the Earth is inclined at an angle of just over 5 degrees to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun (the ecliptic). Because of this, at the time of a new moon, the Moon will usually pass to the north or south of the Sun. A solar eclipse can occur only when new moon occurs close to one of the points (known as nodes) where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic. As noted above, the Moon's orbit is also elliptical. The Moon's distance from the Earth can vary by about 6% from its average value. Therefore, the Moon's title: Eclipse text: the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes in front of the Sun. The type of solar eclipse event depends on the distance of the Moon from the Earth during the event. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Earth intersects the umbra portion of the Moon's shadow. When the umbra does not reach the surface of the Earth, the Sun is only partially occulted, resulting in an annular eclipse. Partial solar eclipses occur when the viewer is inside the penumbra. The eclipse magnitude is the fraction of the Sun's diameter that is covered by the Moon. For title: Solar eclipse text: Solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when an observer (on Earth) passes through the shadow cast by the Moon which fully or partially blocks ("occults") the Sun. This can only happen when the Sun, Moon and Earth are nearly aligned on a straight line in three dimensions (syzygy) during a new moon when the Moon is close to the ecliptic plane. In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. In partial and annular eclipses, only part of the Sun is obscured. If the Moon were in a perfectly circular orbit, a little closer