Difference between Lunar eclipse and Solar eclipse

Sun and moon are heavenly bodies and the principal sources of natural light for the earth. While sun is a huge burning star that sheds its powerful light to illumine the blue planet, moon is a satellite rotating around the earth reflecting the sun’s light on to the earth’s surface in a milder form during nights.

An eclipse (solar or lunar) involves three celestial bodies namely, the sun, moon and the earth. Solar and lunar eclipses are natural events when the sun and moon’s lights are partially or fully hidden from the view for a brief period of time.

A solar eclipse results when the moon passes in between the earth and the sun hiding the sun fully or partly for some time. A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth passes in between the moon and the sun casting its shadow on the moon and thus hiding it fully or partly for some time.

The science behind eclipses is quite intriguing and astonishing. Here we compare the solar and lunar eclipses and learn how they differ from each other.



A lunar eclipse can happen only when the moon is directly opposite to the sun in the sky with the earth in between. This position happens on every full moon day month on month. However, we do not see a lunar eclipse on every full moon day since the sun is not precisely in line with the earth and the moon and the moon’s orbit around the earth is tilted by about 5 degrees. Hence a lunar eclipse happens only two times in a year.

Since the moon is 300 times closer to the earth than the sun. Therefore, the chances of earth blocking the sunlight falling on the moon is greater when compared to the moon blocking the sunlight. This is why solar eclipse are fewer in number than lunar eclipses. The duration of lunar eclipses are longer than that of solar eclipses. Lunar eclipses can be seen from many places while solar eclipses can be seen only from limited number of places on the earth.