Which statement correctly describes the difference between solar and lunar eclipses?

• A. Solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is between the Sun and Earth; lunar eclipse occurs when Earth is between Moon and Sun
• B. Solar eclipse occurs at full moon; lunar eclipse occurs at new moon
• C. Solar involves Moon shadow on Earth; lunar involves Sun shadow on Earth
• D. Solar occurs only in daylight; lunar only at night

Answer: (A)

Understand what changes hands during an eclipse: which body is between the Sun and the other two, and whose shadow is being cast. In a solar eclipse, the Moon sits right between the Sun and Earth, so the Moon blocks the Sun’s light and a shadow from the Moon falls on Earth. In a lunar eclipse, the Earth sits between the Sun and the Moon, so Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the Moon and the Moon moves into Earth’s shadow. That combination—Moon between Sun and Earth for solar, Earth between Sun and Moon for lunar—is the clean way to describe what’s happening, which is why this statement is the best fit.

The other ideas mix up who’s blocking whom or when the alignments occur. For example, solar eclipses happen near new Moon, not full Moon, and lunar eclipses happen near full Moon, not new Moon. Saying the Sun’s shadow falls on Earth during a lunar eclipse reverses the actual geometry, and claiming eclipses occur only in daylight or only at night ignores that what matters is the alignment and whose shadow is involved.