why do eclipses like up perfectly and yet in the days surrounding the sun isn’t partially covered as the solar bodies gradually like up?

Question

Seems odd that they go from not being near one another at all (to partially cover) to suddenly being perfectly lined up.

In: 171

Answer 1

There are no solar bodies between us and the sun that are big enough from the perspective of the Earth to partially block out the sun. Venus would be the biggest besides the Moon, and it just looks like a dot as a star from Earth’s perspective. So sometimes it could pass between us and fhe Sun, but it’s so little we wouldn’t even notice.

And another fun fact, the Earth is the only planet in our solar system with a moon that is the right size for the planet’s distance from the sun to both appear the same size in the sky.

As for why the moon doesn’t block out the Sun all the time as it’s orbiting the Earth once a month, the plane made from the moon orbiting the Earth is a few degrees off from the plane made by the Earth orbiting the moon. So normally the moon will be a little bit higher or a little bit lower than it would need to be to block out the sun. Sometimes it’s close enough as it passes between the Earth and sun to partially block out the sun for a partial eclipse. In even more rare instances, it will be fully in front and completely block out the Sun for a total eclipse.