What is the connection between “ecliptic” and eclipses??
An eclipse cannot happen unless the Moon is also in the plane of the ecliptic Here is why–illustrate again with 3 fruits or objects. Put the “Sun” and “Earth” on a flat table, and explain that the “Moon” moves near that surface (which is the plane of the ecliptic), but not exactly on it. In one side of its orbit it goes a bit above it [demonstrate], in the opposite side it goes below [though never very far in either direction]. Eclipses need the Earth, the Moon and the Sun in a straight line, and therefore can only happen where the two planes intersect. Two types of eclipse exist: (a) In an eclipse of the Sun, the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun. We are in its shadow. Usually, only a small area on Earth is fully shaded, because the Moon appears to us only slightly bigger than the Sun (and even that not always). Only the (rather small) part of Earth seeing the Moon exactly over the position of the Sun is in full darkness. For the rest of Earth, the Moon is a bit to the side an
