BURLINGTON — While Earth orbits the Sun on the Ecliptic plane, the Moon orbits Earth along a different orbital that is shifted by about 5 degrees from the Ecliptic Plane (see figure above).
courtesy drawing
During an eclipse season, the Moon crosses the Ecliptic Plane twice at a time when the Earth, Moon, and Sun are in line. This ecliptic alignment occurs on average twice a year. The period of the Moon based on its phase is 29.5 days, which means that lunar and solar eclipses always follow each other by about two weeks.
Last year, there was a lunar eclipse on March 25 (in its full-Moon phase), roughly two weeks before the solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 (in its new-Moon phase).
This year, there was a lunar eclipse on March 14 and so, like clockwork, there will be a solar eclipse on March 29. This solar eclipse will be the 21st of a 71-eclipse Saros cycle (number 149), which started on August 21, 1664, and will end on September 28, 2926.
Detailed information about the March 29 eclipse is at timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2025-march-29
Astrophysicist and Physics Professor Dr. Alain Brizard of St. Michael’s College earned his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Princeton University and did postdoctoral work at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.
