Plan to wash lots of clothes if you travel the world. (Photo: George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images ) Phileas Fogg took 80 days to travel the world to win a bet. Nellie Bly beat that record by eight days to prove the resourcefulness of solo female travelers. Neither the fictional Fogg nor the ...
It is a popular misconception that the phenomenon of a total eclipse of the sun is a rare occurrence. Quite the contrary. Approximately once every 18 months (on average) a total solar eclipse is visible from some place on the Earthâs surface. That's two totalities for every three years.
Likewise, when the Moon is farther away from the Earth (furthest distance is called apogee), the tides are not as spectacular. Tides most commonly occur twice a day (diurnal). Tides can also occur as two high waters and two low waters each day (semi-diurnal). However, these periods do not happen at the same time each day. This is because the Moon takes slightly longer than 24 hours to line up again exactly with the same point on the Earth - about 50 minutes more.