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Is it unusual for the lunar (or solar) eclipse to fall so close to the Winter Solstice?

Only a week or so ago we had a lunar eclipse, visible from Seatle. About two weeks earlier, there was a solar eclipse as well.

This always fall about two weeks apart, when the alignment is right.
But does it have anything to do with the Winter Solstice? (the longest night of the year, shortest day) Where would one go to learn about this?

O my captain asked in Whatever 5 months ago | Report

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  • Qlandav2ex_small
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    The two events are separate phenomena, that is, where the Moon is in its orbit around the Earth and where the Earth is in its orbit around the Sun. The disk of Sun and Moon subtend approximately an angle of 1/2° (as we see them from the surface of the Earth) and the plane of the orbit is tilted about 5° from the ecliptic (plane of the solar system and of the orbit of the Earth around the Sun). So you can see how critical the alignment is to have that shadow line up just right to create the eclipse. There are approximately 13 cycles of the moon's orbit around the Earth for every full orbit the Earth makes around the Sun. Add to that mix that the tilt of the orbit of the Moon around the Earth precesses at about an 18 year cycle and the occurrence of the proper alignment depends on a lot of different features coinciding. The position of the Earth in its orbit for the solstices is just one of them.

    Russ Campbell, NWEBS answered in Whatever 5 months ago | Report
    1 comment by O my captain…
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