Eclipse Pair

Eclipse Pair

Image Credit &
Copyright:

Josh Dury

Explanation:

Eclipses tend to come in pairs.

Twice a year, during an eclipse season that lasts
about 34 days, Sun, Moon, and Earth can nearly align.

Then the full and new
phases of the Moon,
separated by just over 14 days, create a lunar and a solar eclipse.

But only rarely is the alignment at both new moon and full moon
phases during a single eclipse season close enough
to produce a pair with both total (or a total and an annular)
lunar and solar eclipses.

More often, partial eclipses are part of any eclipse season.

In fact, the last eclipse season of 2024 produced
this fortnight-separated eclipse pair:

a partial lunar eclipse on 18 September
and
an annular solar eclipse
on 2 October.

The time-lapse composite images were captured from
Somerset, UK (left) and
Rapa Nui planet Earth.

The
2025 eclipse seasons
will see a total lunar eclipse on 14 March
paired with a partial solar eclipse on 29 March,
and a total lunar eclipse on 8 September
followed by a partial solar eclipse on 21 September.