Question
Why don’t lunar eclipses occur every full moon?
Multiple choice question.
A)
The temperature is not always right for an eclipse.
B)
The Moon’s orbit around Earth and Earth’s orbit around the Sun are not in the same plane, so the three bodies only line up occasionally.
C)
The Moon’s orbit around the Sun and Earth’s orbit around the Sun are not in the same plane, so the three bodies only line up occasionally.
D)
The Moon’s orbit around Earth and the Sun’s orbit around Earth are not in the same plane, so the three bodies only line up occasionally.
Multiple choice question.
A)
The temperature is not always right for an eclipse.
B)
The Moon’s orbit around Earth and Earth’s orbit around the Sun are not in the same plane, so the three bodies only line up occasionally.
C)
The Moon’s orbit around the Sun and Earth’s orbit around the Sun are not in the same plane, so the three bodies only line up occasionally.
D)
The Moon’s orbit around Earth and the Sun’s orbit around Earth are not in the same plane, so the three bodies only line up occasionally.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The correct answer is:
B) The Moon’s orbit around Earth and Earth’s orbit around the Sun are not in the same plane, so the three bodies only line up occasionally.
This is because the Moon's orbital plane is tilted about 5 degrees relative to the Earth's orbital plane (the ecliptic). As a result, the alignment required for a lunar eclipse only occurs during certain full moons when the Moon is in line with both the Earth and the Sun, which does not happen every month.
B) The Moon’s orbit around Earth and Earth’s orbit around the Sun are not in the same plane, so the three bodies only line up occasionally.
This is because the Moon's orbital plane is tilted about 5 degrees relative to the Earth's orbital plane (the ecliptic). As a result, the alignment required for a lunar eclipse only occurs during certain full moons when the Moon is in line with both the Earth and the Sun, which does not happen every month.