Real/virtual is maybe not the best dichotomy, but it's explained in the original email. A lunar eclipse as described is the entire Moon in the Earth's shadow. T

Real/virtual is maybe not the best dichotomy, but it's explained in the original email. A lunar eclipse as described is the entire Moon in the Earth's shadow. There is no portion of the near side of the moon (the hemisphere that is always facing Earth) that is not experiencing the eclipse. A solar eclipse on Earth only affects a very localized region. Local/global might be a better dichotomy.