The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
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A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon and (part of) the Moon is shaded by Earth. Lunar eclipses can be seen by anybody on Earth for whom the Moon is above the horizon, and are therefore much more common than solar eclipses. They take place up to five times a year and totality can last up to 100 minutes.
When the Sun, Earth and Moon are well aligned, the Moon is completely covered by Earth’s full central shadow – at these times we see a total lunar eclipse. Some sunlight is refracted onto the Moon through Earth’s atmosphere, giving the Moon a reddish colour.
When the Moon is less perfectly aligned with Earth and the Sun, the full shadow may cover only part of the Moon’s surface, creating a partial lunar eclipse.
When the alignment is even less perfect, the Moon falls within the more diffuse partial shadow cast by Earth. The resulting slight shading of the Moon’s surface is much more subtle and difficult to observe.
Discover more about eclipses here.
[Image description: Graphic showing what happens during a lunar eclipse: Earth (blue-green circle in the centre) casts a shadow on the Moon (grey circle in the bottom left) when it passes between the Moon and the Sun (yellow-orange circle, top right).]