What is the name when the sun blocks the moon?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Solar Eclipse: when the moon blocks the sun

Lunar Eclipse: when the earth blocks the moon

Answer 2

When the sun blocks the moon it's called being in space far away from Earth, because the sun is much farther (~93 million miles) away than the moon (~240 thousand miles) and can't get between earth & moon. (Earth & moon are going around the sun together).

You may be thinking of:
a solar eclipse (eclipse of the sun), when the moon blocks the sun, or
a lunar eclipse (eclipse of the moon), when the moon gets in earth's shadow.

Source(s):

Astronomy classes I took at Swarthmore College. Also, any good book about the solar system.

Answer 3

That's called: "Oops! That never happens!"

It is impossible for the sun to come between the Earth and the moon. The sun is millions of miles farther away from Earth than the moon is!

Perhaps you are thinking of when the EARTH blocks the moon from receiving and reflecting rays from the sun. That is called a "lunar eclipse." Here's a site that talks about different types of lunar eclipses:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclip…

It's also possible you just have things reversed; maybe you're interested in the situation where the moon almost entirely blocks the sun's light from our view. This CAN happen, because the moon is closer to the Earth. It's called a "solar eclipse."

The moon is much smaller than the sun, but since it is SOOO much closer to us, when it comes between us and the sun, it almost completely "eclipses" (obscures from view) the sun and its light. (The sun's corona is visible during a "total eclipse.")

Here's a site that discusses solar eclipses and related concepts:

http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/SEprime…

Hope this helps!

Source(s):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclip…
http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/SEprime…

Answer 4

A solar eclipse is when the moon is in front of the sun and the sky darkens and you see the black circle with the light over it.

A lunar eclipse is when the moon is behind the earth and the sun and the moon gets no light so over the course of a couple hours you can gradually see the moon disappear.

Source(s):

guessing

Answer 5

I think you mean when the moon blocks the sun.
Which is called a solar eclipse.
There is also, what is called, a lunar eclipse, which happens when the earth moves in front of the suns line of illumination causing the moon to darken.

Source(s):

http://www.nasa.gov

Answer 6

lunar eclipse