I understand there are normal phases where the moon is partially covered by the Earth’s shadow, how can it be completely covered one night and full the nights before and after? What happens during an eclipse where the moon can go through all the phases in a few hours, and then go back to full tonight and normal decreasing/increasing phases each night?
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The Full Moon is the Moon being front-lit by the Sun, “over Earth’s shoulder”. The Quarter Moon is side-lit by the Sun, “from the left/right”. The New Moon is the Moon being between us and the Sun, so that it’s visible in the daytime sky but lit “from behind” at night.
The only time the Earth can fully eclipse the Moon is when ~~it’s~~ *Earth is* between the Moon and Sun, which is the same condition for a Full Moon. On Monday, the Sun lit the Moon over Earth’s right shoulder. For a brief while Tuesday, the Earth’s head threw a shadow over the Moon (the eclipse). Then Wednesday, the Sun lit the Moon over Earth’s left shoulder. Last month and next month and most months in general, the Earth isn’t exactly as “high” as it needs to be to throw that shadow during a Full Moon. Remember the Sun is huge and very far away, and the Solar System is not perfectly flat and neat.
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