Expert: Harry Hayfield - 5/21/2011

Question
Hi Harry,
1. Can the same Solar Eclipse be Total from One place and Partial from another place on the Earth?
2. Can the same Lunar Eclipse be Total from One place and Partial from another place on the Earth?
Thank You

Answer
Indeed they can (which can be a regular pain in the neck on occasions). The last total solar eclipse visible from India was in 2009. If you lived in the city of Surat, you would have experienced a total eclipse lasting a little over 3 minutes however, if you lived in Karachi you would only have seen a partial eclipse of the sun. The same thing happens with lunar eclipses(only the scale is much larger with the difference being seen over thousands of miles)