The odds of Earths moon appearing exactly the same size as the sun are literally astronomical. Doesn’t exist anywhere cosmically nearby. Someone else made the point that if aliens did live near us, they would travel here as space tourists to see our rare, incredible eclipses.
we’ve seen eclipses on earth, so here’s an eclipse from mars.
this is mars’s moon phobos eclipsing the sun.
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@DanRiffle
@Alec_Dent
I dunno. Of the miracles of Earth’s existence this is very low on the list. Also, the odds that my thumb would block out the sun aren’t that astronomical.
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@JonahDispatch
@Alec_Dent
Honest question: have you ever been in the path of totality for a total solar eclipse?
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@DanRiffle
Can you stop with these.
Drove to northern New Hampshire with my 7 year old and ran out of time 5mi from totality. I will never get over it.
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@JRPSD
Spain 2026. Egypt 2027. Australia 2028. South Africa and Australia 2030. We’ve got 600 million more years of these. You’ll get one.
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@DanRiffle
This is also a point-in-time rarity. The moon is moving away from the earth at I think 1 cm per year, & in doing so slowing down the rotational speed of the earth. Way long ago, the moon was much bigger and so you wouldn’t have been able to see the corona (if we’d been around), &
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@BBKogan
Yes, the same rate as fingernails. If Earth had a flag, it would have a solar eclipse on it.
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@DanRiffle
People keep saying this, but if the moon appeared much BIGGER than the sun, then wouldn't we still get the same cool eclipses? Idgi
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@SarahElizNev
You would not get the visible white ring of the corona with the naked eye. You would not get the 360° sunset. It would just be regular nighttime, not the beauty and eerie momentary stillness of the eclipse.
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@DanRiffle
There's literally a few other moons that make similar eclipses to ours in our solar system.
Now, granted, those planets have a LOT of moons, so they have better odds, but we're not exactly unique.
We still have the best view due to sun proximity though!
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@JMannhart
You get total eclipses on Jupiter and Saturn, but their moons appear much larger than the sun from the surface. You would not get the same affect with the corona, Baily’s Beads, and 360° sunset. That last screenshot is from NASA.
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@DanRiffle
I actually watched a neat video on basically this exact subject, and it turns out Jupiter, and Saturn in particular actually have a couple moons that are just the right sizes when viewed from their upper atmospheres to cause solar eclipses where the corona is visible.
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@totallyrealcvs
You get total eclipses on Jupiter and Saturn, but their moons appear much larger than the sun from the surface. You would not get the same affect with the corona, Baily’s Beads, and 360° sunset. That last screenshot is from NASA.
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@DanRiffle
I think Callisto has the same effect on Jupiter and many moons of Saturn show the sun’s corona too
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@JMannhart
You get total eclipses on Jupiter and Saturn, but their moons appear much larger than the sun from the surface. You would not get the same affect with the corona, Baily’s Beads, and 360° sunset. That last screenshot is from NASA.
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@DanRiffle
What about moons where given the distance to the sun it appears larger than the sun, so eclipses happen more often? Surely this happens with like, Titan?
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@JMannhart
You get total eclipses on Jupiter and Saturn, but their moons appear much larger than the sun from the surface. You would not get the same affect with the corona, Baily’s Beads, and 360° sunset. That last screenshot is from NASA.
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@DanRiffle
it's no coincidence, rather proof of humanity's claim to the mandate of heaven. AD ASTRA
our species' development perfectly coinciding with the brief blip in cosmic history where sol & luna's angular sizes fall within 2.9% of one another is inexorable proof of humanity's claim to the mandate of heaven
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@DanRiffle
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” - Romans 1:20
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