Expert: Courtney Seligman - 6/6/2009

Question
solar eclipses are slightly more common than lunar eclipses. Why then is it more likely that your region of the country will experience a lunar eclipse?

Answer
Lunar eclipses can be seen anywhere on the night side of the Earth, but solar eclipses can only be seen in a strip across the day side of the Earth. That strip is only half the width of the Earth, and may be centered to the north or south of the Equator, further reducing the area which can see it. As a result, a typical solar eclipse (counting partial phases) can only be seen on about a third of the day side, or a sixth of the total area of the Earth. Since lunar eclipses can be seen by half the Earth, and solar by only a sixth, lunar eclipses should be seen about three times as often.

There are minor corrections required to account for the rotation of the Earth during the eclipse, and the fact that some lunar eclipses aren't very noticeable, but the result is not significantly changed by such corrections.