A total solar eclipse takes several hours, but is considered a partial eclipse until the time of totality - the time when the moon blocks out the sun completely. Totality can last up to 7 minutes 40 seconds. To clarify, at any given spot on earth a total solar eclipse lasts just a few minutes. However, if you could be witnessing such an eclipse from high in space, you would see that there is a "path of totality" that sweeps across the sunlit face of earth. The length of this path varies from eclipse to eclipse. It is this path sweeping along the earth that can last for several hours, not the experience of the eclipse for a given individual at a fixed spot.
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The total eclipse in our solar system lasts for a few minutes, typically ranging from around 1 to 7 minutes, depending on various factors such as the alignment of the celestial bodies involved and the location of the observer on Earth.
I believe usually 3-4 hours. probably 3.5
The moon is expected to take 3 hours and 28 minutes to pass completely through the umbra.
The total phase of the eclipse will last 72 minutes beginning at 7:41 UT (on Dec. 21), corresponding to 2:41 a.m. EST or 11:41 p.m. PST (on Dec. 20).
At the moment of mid-totality (8:17 UT/3:17 a.m. EST/12:17 a.m. PST), the moon will stand directly overhead from a point in the North Pacific Ocean about 800 miles (1,300 km) west of La Paz, Mexico.
The moon will pass entirely out of the Earth's umbra at 10:01 UT/5:01 a.m. EST/2:01 a.m. PST and the last evidence of the penumbra should vanish about 15 or 20 minutes later.
A total eclipse of the moon can last over 100 minutes but that is very rare. A total eclipse of the sun lasts shorter, about 8 minutes. This has to do with how far the objects are to the Earth.
The maximum possible time of a total solar eclipse is about 7.5 minutes.
The total phase of a lunar eclipse is about 1.5 hours.
The duration of any eclipse depends on the exact geometry between the Earth, Moon and Sun, and particularly the distance between the Earth and the Moon. The Moon is in an elliptical orbit with a perigee (closest to the Earth) distance of 225,600 miles and an apogee (greatest) distance of 252,000 miles. When the Moon is close, we have longer eclipses; when the Moon is at a middle distance we have shorter eclipses, and at apogee we get annular solar eclipses and very short lunar eclipses.
A total lunar eclipse can last up to a few hours, typically around 3-4 hours from start to finish. This includes the partial phases before and after the total phase when Earth's shadow partially covers the moon.
The total phase of a solar eclipse can never last longer than 7 minutes and 29 seconds. MindOfTheLion: But why can't it be? If it occurs during a school day do they stop school to check it out?
The 2007 total solar eclipse in the US lasted for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds at its longest point. The path of totality traveled across parts of the western US, including northern California, Nevada, and Utah.
one month
The total part of a lunar eclipse may last from just a few minutes up to about 90 minutes, depending on how exact the alignment of the Earth and Moon are as compared to the Sun. If the Moon goes through the center of the Earth's umbra, or total shadow, then the eclipse will be a long one; if the Moon just barely enters the umbra, then it will emerge in just a few minutes. Any number in between is possible as well. The partial phase of a lunar eclipse can last up to about 3 hours, again depending on how exact the alignment is.