Free and printable lunar eclipse diagrams are available for you in high resolution! When you are learning about lunar eclipse, you also learn how it happens. A lunar eclipse can occur only at full moon. Lunar eclipses occur when Earth’s shadow blocks the sun’s light, which otherwise reflects off the moon. There are three types — total, partial and penumbral — with the most dramatic being a total lunar eclipse, in which Earth’s shadow completely covers the moon. Take a look at the first diagram below.
image via blog.nasm.si.edu
The diagram above is the total eclipse. Because the moon’s orbit around Earth lies in a slightly different plane than Earth’s orbit around the sun, perfect alignment for an eclipse doesn’t occur at every full moon. A total lunar eclipse develops over time, typically a couple hours for the whole event. A total lunar eclipse can happen only when the sun, Earth and moon are perfectly lined up — anything less than perfection creates a partial lunar eclipse or no eclipse at all. You can see the process in the following lunar eclipse diagrams below.
image via galleryhip.com
image via naasbeginners.co.uk
image via imgarcade.com
Look at the above diagram then imagine this; Earth casts two shadows that fall on the moon during a lunar eclipse: The umbra is a full, dark shadow. The penumbra is a partial outer shadow. The moon passes through these shadows in stages. The initial and final stages — when the moon is in the penumbral shadow — are not so noticeable, so the best part of an eclipse is during the middle of the event, when the moon is in the umbral shadow. (source)
image via eclipsegeeks.com
image via conservationinstitute.org
image via akitarescueoftulsa.com
The three types: (1) Total lunar eclipse: Earth’s full (umbral) shadow falls on the moon. (2) Partial lunar eclipse: Some eclipses are only partial. (3) Penumbral lunar eclipse: This is the least interesting type of eclipse, because the moon is in Earth’s faint outer (penumbral) shadow. All diagrams posted above are free to be downloaded.