Emanuel a. Schepp, age 11, Long island city, n.y., for his question:

What is the difference between a lunar and a solar eclipse?

We need the sun, earth and moon to create both a solar and a lunar eclipse. The difference between them depe.nds upon the positions of these heavenly bodies. They must be in a straight line and the sun, of course, is always in the same direction way off at the center of the solar system. However, sometimes the moon is becween the earth and the sun, and sometimes the earth is between the moon and the sun.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly between us and the sun.

The new moon is on the sunward side of its orbit from us. And for a while its dark disk blots out the blazing sun in a solar eclipse. A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth passes directly between the sun and the full moon. The earth's long, tapering shadow creeps over the moon which causes its golden sunshine to disappear.