Eclipse Trivia

1.  What Major League Baseball team won a world series on the night of a total lunar eclipse?

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2.  By 2017 what small U.S. city will have been in the path of three total solar eclipses in less than 100 years?

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3.  In contrast, what U.S. city is located where a total solar eclipse will not be seen for more than 1600 years?

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4.  Who was the first person to observe a total solar eclipse from the air?  (Hint:  He observed it while flying in a gas-filled balloon.)

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5.  During a solar eclipse, in what direction does the Moon's shadow move across the Earth:  east-to-west or west-to-east?

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6.  What is the approximate speed of the Moon's shadow as it moves across the Earth's surface during a solar eclipse?

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7.  What is the original meaning of the word "eclipse"?  (Hint:  It comes from the ancient Greek word ekleipsis.)

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8.  What is the maximum possible duration of a total solar eclipse?

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9.  Could Stonehenge in England have been used to predict eclipses?

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10.  What chemical element was first discovered on the Sun during a total solar eclipse decades before it was discovered on Earth?

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11.  Chinese New Year always occurs on the date of a New Moon, that is, when a solar eclipse is possible.  When was the last time a total solar eclipse occurred on Chinese New Year?

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12.  Which pope was born and buried on days when there were solar eclipses?

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13.  When was the first photograph of a total solar eclipse made?

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14.  In what year was commencement at Harvard was held one day early because of a solar eclipse?

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15.  Eclipses are mentioned several times in the Bible.  The most famous passage is:  "On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the Sun do down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight."  Which book of the Bible does this come from?

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16.  The pearly white sheets and filaments that surrounded the Moon during a total solar eclipse are known as the corona.  When was this term first used?

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