Why don't all New Moons cast a shadow on the Earth?

The shadow misses Earth completely. There are only two times in the inclined lunar orbit where it crosses the ecliptic plane. At these points, the New Moon shadow will fall on the earth and you get a solar eclipse. The rest of the time, the Moon is not in the right place at the right time, and the shadow misses earth.


Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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