How did the Moon end up with an orbit the perfect distance to cause total eclipses?
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It’s worth pointing out that total eclipses occur any time the moon is angularly the same size or larger than the sun.
People seem to think it’s only when they’re exactly the same size, but that isn’t true.
For example, many of jupiter’s moons are so large that they would appear many times larger than the sun, these cause total eclipses sll the time.
So, Earth. Well, Earth’s moon actually isn’t at a ‘perfect’ distance.
Just last week there was an Annular eclipse, which occurs when the moon is further away in its orbit, and therefore not large enough to fully block the disk of the sun, leaving a ring of sunlight shining around the moon.
This is most certainly not ‘perfect’.
At some points in its orbit, the moon is a little too far away.
At other points it is close enough to fully cover the disk of the sun. This is merely a coincidence.
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