The Moon can block the Sun completely during a solar eclipse because the Sun is far, far away. Is it then pure coincidence that the Moon almost completely fits the Sun’s outline, or could we’ve had solar eclipses with a much smaller Moon, thus blocking the sun only very partially?

Question

Title.

In: Physics

Answer 1

Yes, it is a pretty cool coincidence. Also, the distance the moon is from earth is changing, so it didn’t always (and won’t always) line up so perfectly.