Shadow on the moon

The night is clear and starry. There’s a bright, full moon in the sky.
But, then, a tiny, curved shadow appears on the edge of the moon.
Slowly, the shadow creeps over the moon. More and more of the moon is
covered by it! And, finally, the whole moon is in shadow.

That’s what happens during an eclipse of the moon. An eclipse of the
moon is called a lunar eclipse. It takes place when the earth comes
between the sun and the moon. When that happens, the earth casts a
shadow on the face of the moon, darkening it.

The moon is seldom completely darkened by the earth’s shadow, however.
Some of the sunlight passing the earth gets “bent” by the earth’s
atmosphere.

This light is reflected onto the moon. So the moon is still faintly
visible. Thus, an eclipse of the moon isn’t as exciting as a solar
eclipse.