Why is there not a solar eclipse every month?
88690
In order for an eclipse to occur, there has to be a very specific line up of the Sun, Moon, and Earth.  It's pretty hard to get that line-up to happen.  You see, the moon's orbit is tilted to the earth's orbital plane by about 5 degrees.  That may not seem like a lot, but its enough for the moon's shadow to miss the earth almost all of the time.
748120
The next total solar eclipse will occur in August 1, 2008, going from Northern Canada over Greenland and Siberia and ending in Mongolia.  The next total lunar eclipse will be in March 3-4, 2007.
254627
I don't think a solar equinox exists. There is a Vernal Equinox and an Autumnal Equinox.\n\nAn Equinox according to Dictionary.com is:\n\ne·qui·nox    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (kw-nks, kw-)\nn. \nEither of two points on the celestial sphere at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator. \nEither of the two times during a year when the sun crosses the celestial equator and when the length of day and night are approximately equal; the vernal equinox or the autumnal equinox.
504332
For the most part, it depends on where you are in comparison to the eclipse.  Also, the alignment of the the sun, moon, and earth need to be within a certain amount to create a partial eclipse or a total eclipse.  This is what I've read...I still might be wrong.
837745
You know that when it's daytime for you, someone on the other side of Earth is experiencing night time - the Sun lights up half of the earth at any given time.  The same is true for the Moon - it is always half lit up by the Sun and half dark.  But we don't always see the lit up side.  Sometimes we do, like tonight (a Full Moon).  But other times we "see" the dark half (a New Moon) (you can't really see the dark half because it's dark!), and sometimes we see a little bit of both (First Quarter Moon, for example).  \n\nWe see different parts of the lit up side and the dark side because the Moon orbits Earth about once every month.  Right now, if you were to see the Sun, Earth, and Moon from high above Earth's north pole, the three would be almost lined up: Sun, then Earth, then Moon.  If they were *perfectly* lined up then there would be a lunar eclipse, but that only happens a couple times a year, if that.  Next week, as the Moon goes around Earth, the Sun, Earth, and Moon will make a right angle and not a straight line.  That's when we see a Third Quarter Moon - only the left half of the Moon will be visible as seen from Earth.  Another week and the Moon will be almost between the Sun and Earth, so the dark side of the Moon will be facing Earth - what we call New Moon.  (If the Moon came exactly between the Sun and Earth we would have a solar eclipse, but just like lunar eclipses they are very rare).\n\nThere is a huge difference between a lunar eclipse and a new moon - apparently several of the people who answered above me don't know that!
1012916
Yes, absolutely.  An eclipse occurs whenever one astronomical body passes over another.  If that shadow is not big enough to completely block the body (planet, moon, sun), the eclipse is called a 'transit'.  But there are plenty of opportunities for all kinds of eclipses.\n\nFor example, occasionally a planet visible from the earth passes in front of a star - that's called an eclipse.  Jupiter may eclipse Rigel, for example.  Those same kind of eclipses would occur anywhere in the solar system, not just here on earth. \n\nFor example, someday human explorers on Mars may see earth transit across the face of the sun, then eclipse a star in Libra.  \n\nAnd this would hold true for extrasolar areas (e.g. planets around distant suns) as well.  They could definitely see all kinds of eclipses there, too.
589478
No. The Earth is too small from the vantage point of other planets and too big from the Moon to cause an eclipse.
78418
OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!! i just learned this in school today, the next complete solar eclipse is August 21, 2017 that will be in oregon. you can go to www.nasa.gov if you want more information.
238896
The months are lunar (based on the moon) and a year is solar (based on the sun). The numbers are dependent on the revolution of the earth around the sun and the moon around the earth. \n\nIf you are referring to the fluctuating number of days in a month, the Romans did this in order to get the lunar and solar calendars to match. \n\nThe more intriguing question is: who thought up the weekly cycle?
1119043
I would say the earth needs less energy to heal, wouldn't you? Anyway I don't think there's a coincidence there. Lot's of things happen on random similar dates. After all, there's only 365 of them, plus one every four years. That's not really incredible odds.
888338
It is actually because of the Earth's orbit in space around the sun that we have seasons to begin with... \nThe seasons result from the Earth's axis being tilted at an angle of approximately 23.5 degrees of arc; thus, fluctuating the amount of exposure to the sun. \n\nClick the links below for more information.\n\nThis is why is appears to us that the constellations are changing.\n\nhttp://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellationmonth_list.html
488954
The next total solar eclipse will occur on August 1, 2008.\nThe next total eclipse of the Moon will occur on the night of 2007 March 03/04. The event will be visible from parts of North and South America as well as Europe, Africa, and Asia
285687
The "ring of fire" that surrounds the eclipse is called the corona.\n\nThe moon is not quite big enough to completely cover the sun and the corona shows around it.
160910
Technically, 3 (I think).\n\nAn eclipse happens when the Moon's orbit intersects the Earth's plane of orbit around the Sun AND the Moon and Sun are in the right place.  The first condition happens once each Lunar cycle, while the second condition happens twice in Earht's orbit around the Sun.  But since these cycles don't correspond exactly to 1 month or 1 year, it can technically happen 3 times (I am thinking) - at the start, mid and end of the year.
1078451
Governments actually decide that it's a good idea for their community. The idea is, that if you change the time in certain parts of the year, then people will have more daylight during the times of the day that people are typically up, and it will get dark typically when people usually go to sleep.\n\nThe reason this isn't constant is becuase the world tilts consistently every year as it circles the sun.
358080
There was an Oroinoid (I think) meteor shower a week ago.  I don't know if it is anual, if it is it seems that this was supposed to be an especially good show.\n\nThere are two other easily seen meteor showers that are annual (so they lie in the Earth's orbital path).  I believe Perseids are in August and Leonoids are in November.\n\n\nI found a table in my astronomy book\nHere I'll list the annual shower and when it reaches it's maximum (so you can see it in the few days before and after but this is when you should see the most activity).\n\n\nQuadrantids      Jan 3-4\nLyrids           Apr 22\n*nu* Aquarids    May 5\nPerseids         Aug 12\n*kappa* Cygnids  Aug 20\nOrionids         Oct 21\nTaurids          Nov 1\nLeonids          Nov 17\nGeminids         Dec 13-14\nUrsids           Dec 22
1134455
l don't know but see this website, maybe is useful\nhttp://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/solar.html