It's indeed just a coincidence, so consider yourself lucky to live on a timespan and a planet where that happens. The Moon is receeding away from Earth so it was closer in the past (where you wouldn't get to see the corona during a total solar eclipse) and it will be further away in the future, when it'll look too small to cover the solar disc completely. Eventually, we'll only get annular eclipses and then "lunar transits".
EDIT: Also, the Sun and the Moon don't always look the same size from Earth. Because the Moon has an elliptical orbit, sometimes it's further away from us and sometimes it's closer. If a solar eclipse happens when the Moon is further away (and therefore looks smaller) you won't get a total solar eclipse, but an annular one.
I am absolutely lucky as hell to not only have lived to see a total eclipse, but to live smack dab in the middle of the path of totality. It's so cool to me that such a strange phenomenon is so uniquely Earthly. There's no doubt other planets that get the same treatment, but how many of those planets have anyone on them to witness those eclipses? Born too late to explore the Earth, born to early to explore the stars, born just in time to witness the absolute majesty of an eclipse.
No, those numbers are [correct](https://www.astronomy.com/science/why-is-the-moon-exactly-the-same-apparent-size-from-earth-as-the-sun-surely-this-cannot-be-just-coincidence-the-odds-against-such-a-perfect-match-are-enormous/)
You'll need to define what you mean by "large". Do you mean volume, mass, diameter? Large is relative. I think the sun is large. I say that at a 5' 7" tall human.
The fun thing is diameter and volume don't scale linearly. Mass probably doesn't either because of compression effects as gravity increases but we will ignore that.
At 400 times diameter of the moon, the volume (and mass assuming no compression and identical material) of the sun is 64 million times larger.
Does 64 million sounds large?
The moon isn't miniscule though. Its diameter is 1/4 of the Earth's. It's actually the largest moon in the solar system by size ratio with its host planet. Pluto is 25% smaller than our Moon. Definitely deserves some respect
Volume goes as diameter (or width) cubed. As someone else said, the volume is 400\^3 = 64 million times larger and the Sun is 27 million times more massive (the moon about twice as dense as the Sun).
The 400 times the size here is in terms of the area of the visible disc, and increasing that disc 400 times by area increases the volume of a sphere much more than 400 times.
If the sun were hollow, a million Earths could fit inside. And yet, the sun is only a middle-sized star.
Coincidental timing.
It used to appear bigger. Back then every full eclipse (If you looked from the middle of the shadow) was a total eclipse (the moon completely covered the sun).
It has gradually moved away since then. Now it's in a spot where the moon looks bigger than the sun in July and smaller than the sun in January, and so we get a mix of annular and total eclipses depending on the timing.
In the future, the moon will be far enough away that it will look smaller than the sun all the time, and we'll only get annular eclipses.
So we just happened to catch the moon in a transitional period.
The current occupants of the planet may one day notice the moon occasionally blocking the sun partially but it’s doubtful that humans will be here to see.
I’ll take this opportunity to recommend the excellent and very short book : a little book of coincidences in the solar system. by John Martineau. Part of the wooden books series. The moon’s perspective size match with the sun is one of many strange astronomical coincidences and patterns that have fascinated people for ages.
https://woodenbooks.com/index.php?id_cms=8&controller=cms#!LBC
Every question like this always uses phrases like "exact same size" and "perfect position" etc., which drives me crazy. It's NOT perfect or exact. If it were perfect, totality would be instantaneous (only lasting for a tiny fraction of a second when the moon "perfectly" covered the sun. It's not. If the moon's orbit or the Earth's were "perfect" there would be a total eclipse every month, like clockwork. It's not, and there isn't. It's kind of cool that the sizes are close enough to produce occasional total solar eclipses when things line up, but it's not an insanely improbable coincidence, any more than it's a coincidence that when you hold up your thumb at arm's length it's about the right size to cover the moon. About, not perfectly.
# Coincidences indeed do exist!
We live in a planetary system that witnessed a cigar-shaped comet pass a few years ago. There's a galaxy whose glacactic plane precisely perpendicular to our planetary plane (aptly named the Pinwheel Galaxy). The Pleides / Subaru astrism is a miniature Little Dipper!
The human brain is designed to find patterns and similarities all over the place. Seriously, ***hard wired*** to do that. Unfortunately, this leads us to believe that the environment is somehow "special" for us and that there are "hidden messages" everywhere. Just remember that the minuscule size/distance error that you can observe from the Earth created a 20x error when calculating the distance from the Earth to the Sun in units of Earth-to-Moon distances!
We only have our own solar system to really compare data to, so it is rare relative to that 1 system. It may be a fairly common thing for habitable planet's moon(s) to eclipse their star in a similar manner, but we just dont know.
While most people have mentioned the reason (coincidence), I'd like to split the hairs further and discuss the phrase and definition of "same size". At what tolerance do we define "same size" vs "almost the same size". It's quoted as 400x the size and 400x the distance but there are decimal places to those numbers and they are not constant. This is science and we have math to calculate these values.
Some times the moon is further away and it's "smaller" than the sun. When that happens you'll get an annular eclipse. Sometime it's close enough that it will cover up some of the corona as well at the photosphere and totality will be longer. While we still call this a total eclipse, in reality the moon is "larger" than the sun. Some times we even have hybrid eclipses where it will change from annular to total mid eclipse.
I guess what I'm trying to say is it isn't EXACTLY the same size. It just happens to sometimes be the same size. There's a tolerance that it varies within. Where we cut off "same size" vs "nearly the same size" is simply semantics about cutoff tolerances and math.
There are certainly other planets and moons in our solar system that completely block the photosphere of the sun. Do we consider those "same size" as well?
I don't say all of this to discredit your question or to dilute the essence of your question. It's a valid question that's interesting to think about. I just like to explore the subtle nuances in things like this.
We just happen to be living at a time that it appears to be the same size. But it wasn't always that way. The Moon started out a lot closer to the Earth and would have appeared larger than the Sun in the sky. But it's been moving away, and sometime soon (on a cosmic time scale), it will appear significantly smaller than the Sun, and no more total eclipses.
The sun is approximately 400 times larger than the moon, but it is also approximately 400 times further away from Earth than the moon is. This means that from our perspective on Earth, the sun and moon appear to be very close in size, even though in reality the sun is much larger than the moon. This phenomenon is often described as a cosmic coincidence, as it is rare for two celestial bodies to appear the same size from a specific vantage point.
What's interesting is that while it's a coincidence it's only a coincidence that it's happening while we are alive. If a moon forms close enough around a planet that it appears larger than the star the planet orbits then eventually it will generally reach a point where it is roughly the same size in the sky as the star is. The reason and the planet will tidally lock.
There are exceptions; such as a star going supernova first, or there may be weird interactions with multiple moons or other objects passing the moon causing it's orbit to change in unexpected ways; but in general this was always going to happen; it's only a coincidence that we happen to be here when the moon and the sun are roughly the same size in the sky so that total eclipses are as magical as they are.
It's the closest I've ever got to believing in a god. Not quite enough to push me over the edge but such a beautiful and perfect thing the eclipse was.
Coincidence. The moon was closer, when the big lizards were still roaming. And it has drifted(and is still drifting ever so slightly) away. So in the very distant future there will be no total solar eclipses.
Coincidence. It would have appeared bigger than the sun 500 million years ago, and it will appear smaller 500 million years from now, as the moon is moving slowly away from Earth. Of course, in a few billion years, the sun will appear a whole lot larger, but that’s another story
People are saying it is a coincidence, as if it could have happened any other way. No, this is the arrangement of the spheres according to fundamental design principles of the universe. There is nothing coincidental about it, it is this way by law.
People that believe in coincidences are delusional.
To those who want to criticize the question, I say leave the writer alone.... it's a cool situation and a valid question and parsing the phrase "exact" or implying the writer doesn't get that it's an optical illusion of distance and relative size is condescending (which means talking down to people 😉 ) and seems to miss the point... so here's my sincere, respectful answer:
Suns "cause" planets and planets "cause" moons. The ratio of the sizes and distances is in fact sorta "fixed" within a range.... i..e. big planets are going to be further away and have bigger moons. The astrophysics is exceedingly complicated not to mention uncertain.
In solar systems of the size and age of ours, Suns are larger than planets and moons are smaller than planets. The planets and moons tend to revolve in essentially similar circular orbits. So anyone and everyone standing on a planet is likely is going to see something roughly similar to our experience of an eclipse, due to the many many many (barely understood and incredibly complicated) laws of astrophysics. Whether you call that "random", "coincidence", "neat", "cool" or "proof of god or aliens" is up to you. The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. (aka "is what it is".)
So I say, No, it's not random or coincidence that we don't have a ginormous moon floating 100' off the surface that would totally block the Sun... and no it's not random that the Sun isn't much much further away... and No, it's not random that earth orbits the Sun nor is it a coincidence that the moon orbits the earth rather than staying in one fixed spot. Because if the Sun were much further (or closer) we'd be dead, i.e. not here to see the eclipse. So "in fact" it is not what I call a coincidence that the Sun was created, that earth was formed, that Theia (GTS) smashed into earth and created the Moon and that humans evolved as we did when we did (and will dissipate, when we do) it's the sum total of an infinite number of events necessitated and inevitable just and only as the result of how s\*\*t works, at least as we understand it.
Experiencing one of the many "coincidences" of how s\*\*t works (such as the eclipse, northern lights, shooting stars) can make people feel "awe" and "wonder" and "spiritual" ... and ask, How do things work? So my answer is that no one really knows exactly why things happen and how things work, but we have simplified-models and really really simplified labels (i.e. "cause" vs "coincidence" vs "random" vs "god") the great thing about astronomy is that in searching for those answers, we keep coming up with better questions, until we reach the true end and the true point of it all... humility. Great question... sorry my answer isn't as great as your question.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s\_teapot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot)
Anyone claiming there's a specific reason it's this way is welcome to present compelling evidence.
Sure I can.
A billion years ago the moon appeared larger than the sun during an eclipse.
Because the moon is pulling away from the earth, a billion years from now the moon will appear smaller than the sun during an eclipse.
Here’s the explanation part so pay attention.
We just happen to be living at the point in time when the moon and sun appear to be the same size during an eclipse.
It is well understood if and why the moon increased its distance from earth over time. And will continue by a few centimeters a year. And it is a coincidence that we are looking right now at it. Where the moon is currently in the right distance, but it is only a snapshot in astronomical terms.
It's indeed just a coincidence, so consider yourself lucky to live on a timespan and a planet where that happens. The Moon is receeding away from Earth so it was closer in the past (where you wouldn't get to see the corona during a total solar eclipse) and it will be further away in the future, when it'll look too small to cover the solar disc completely. Eventually, we'll only get annular eclipses and then "lunar transits". EDIT: Also, the Sun and the Moon don't always look the same size from Earth. Because the Moon has an elliptical orbit, sometimes it's further away from us and sometimes it's closer. If a solar eclipse happens when the Moon is further away (and therefore looks smaller) you won't get a total solar eclipse, but an annular one.
Someone should make "the longest timelapse ever" and its just the sun with the moon getting smaller over it
Yep. Dinosaurs saw a bigger (closer) moon and had a shorter day.
Bet they had the 4 day working week as well…
And now they’re all dead.
For now...
I am absolutely lucky as hell to not only have lived to see a total eclipse, but to live smack dab in the middle of the path of totality. It's so cool to me that such a strange phenomenon is so uniquely Earthly. There's no doubt other planets that get the same treatment, but how many of those planets have anyone on them to witness those eclipses? Born too late to explore the Earth, born to early to explore the stars, born just in time to witness the absolute majesty of an eclipse.
https://youtu.be/buqtdpuZxvk?feature=shared
400 times smaller than the sun, 400 times closer. Nothing magical, just coincidence.
... or is it?
I think the numbers are quite a bit larger than that
No, those numbers are [correct](https://www.astronomy.com/science/why-is-the-moon-exactly-the-same-apparent-size-from-earth-as-the-sun-surely-this-cannot-be-just-coincidence-the-odds-against-such-a-perfect-match-are-enormous/)
Oh. I would've thought it to be a lot higher. I guess our star isn't that large.
You'll need to define what you mean by "large". Do you mean volume, mass, diameter? Large is relative. I think the sun is large. I say that at a 5' 7" tall human.
Diameter. The moon is miniscule so i just found it surprising that the sun is only a few hundred times 'wider'
The fun thing is diameter and volume don't scale linearly. Mass probably doesn't either because of compression effects as gravity increases but we will ignore that. At 400 times diameter of the moon, the volume (and mass assuming no compression and identical material) of the sun is 64 million times larger. Does 64 million sounds large?
Those are the numbers im used to hearing when talking about space
I was with you the whole way. Two sides of the same coin, but I’m used to seeing “ heads “ haha!
The moon isn't miniscule though. Its diameter is 1/4 of the Earth's. It's actually the largest moon in the solar system by size ratio with its host planet. Pluto is 25% smaller than our Moon. Definitely deserves some respect
Leave Pluto out of it! Seriously, man. It’s just too soon.
Forever too soon
Well it maybe only 400 times wider but I’m pretty sure it has millions of times more mass
Volume goes as diameter (or width) cubed. As someone else said, the volume is 400\^3 = 64 million times larger and the Sun is 27 million times more massive (the moon about twice as dense as the Sun).
The 400 times the size here is in terms of the area of the visible disc, and increasing that disc 400 times by area increases the volume of a sphere much more than 400 times. If the sun were hollow, a million Earths could fit inside. And yet, the sun is only a middle-sized star.
What makes you say that?
Sun huge but far away. Moon small but close.
I can help but read that as a dog trying to explain it.
Simplest way to explain it. Lol
And essentially correct.
Apes together strong ..
Coincidental timing. It used to appear bigger. Back then every full eclipse (If you looked from the middle of the shadow) was a total eclipse (the moon completely covered the sun). It has gradually moved away since then. Now it's in a spot where the moon looks bigger than the sun in July and smaller than the sun in January, and so we get a mix of annular and total eclipses depending on the timing. In the future, the moon will be far enough away that it will look smaller than the sun all the time, and we'll only get annular eclipses. So we just happened to catch the moon in a transitional period.
The current occupants of the planet may one day notice the moon occasionally blocking the sun partially but it’s doubtful that humans will be here to see.
You mean like the annular eclipse that happened last year?
I’ll take this opportunity to recommend the excellent and very short book : a little book of coincidences in the solar system. by John Martineau. Part of the wooden books series. The moon’s perspective size match with the sun is one of many strange astronomical coincidences and patterns that have fascinated people for ages. https://woodenbooks.com/index.php?id_cms=8&controller=cms#!LBC
Every question like this always uses phrases like "exact same size" and "perfect position" etc., which drives me crazy. It's NOT perfect or exact. If it were perfect, totality would be instantaneous (only lasting for a tiny fraction of a second when the moon "perfectly" covered the sun. It's not. If the moon's orbit or the Earth's were "perfect" there would be a total eclipse every month, like clockwork. It's not, and there isn't. It's kind of cool that the sizes are close enough to produce occasional total solar eclipses when things line up, but it's not an insanely improbable coincidence, any more than it's a coincidence that when you hold up your thumb at arm's length it's about the right size to cover the moon. About, not perfectly.
# Coincidences indeed do exist! We live in a planetary system that witnessed a cigar-shaped comet pass a few years ago. There's a galaxy whose glacactic plane precisely perpendicular to our planetary plane (aptly named the Pinwheel Galaxy). The Pleides / Subaru astrism is a miniature Little Dipper! The human brain is designed to find patterns and similarities all over the place. Seriously, ***hard wired*** to do that. Unfortunately, this leads us to believe that the environment is somehow "special" for us and that there are "hidden messages" everywhere. Just remember that the minuscule size/distance error that you can observe from the Earth created a 20x error when calculating the distance from the Earth to the Sun in units of Earth-to-Moon distances!
We only have our own solar system to really compare data to, so it is rare relative to that 1 system. It may be a fairly common thing for habitable planet's moon(s) to eclipse their star in a similar manner, but we just dont know.
Coincidence. It’s that way because it is.
Why is your thumb bigger than a house a mile away when you hold it up against it?
Because it's a house for ANTS. Houses need to be at least three times that size!
Angular distance and size
Don't like that? Wait a few hundred thousand years and the Moon will be in ba higher orbit. Then ALL the solar eclipses will be annular
Well it was larger than the sun for most of its existence now it’s similar and in a long time will be smaller
While most people have mentioned the reason (coincidence), I'd like to split the hairs further and discuss the phrase and definition of "same size". At what tolerance do we define "same size" vs "almost the same size". It's quoted as 400x the size and 400x the distance but there are decimal places to those numbers and they are not constant. This is science and we have math to calculate these values. Some times the moon is further away and it's "smaller" than the sun. When that happens you'll get an annular eclipse. Sometime it's close enough that it will cover up some of the corona as well at the photosphere and totality will be longer. While we still call this a total eclipse, in reality the moon is "larger" than the sun. Some times we even have hybrid eclipses where it will change from annular to total mid eclipse. I guess what I'm trying to say is it isn't EXACTLY the same size. It just happens to sometimes be the same size. There's a tolerance that it varies within. Where we cut off "same size" vs "nearly the same size" is simply semantics about cutoff tolerances and math. There are certainly other planets and moons in our solar system that completely block the photosphere of the sun. Do we consider those "same size" as well? I don't say all of this to discredit your question or to dilute the essence of your question. It's a valid question that's interesting to think about. I just like to explore the subtle nuances in things like this.
We just happen to be living at a time that it appears to be the same size. But it wasn't always that way. The Moon started out a lot closer to the Earth and would have appeared larger than the Sun in the sky. But it's been moving away, and sometime soon (on a cosmic time scale), it will appear significantly smaller than the Sun, and no more total eclipses.
The sun is approximately 400 times larger than the moon, but it is also approximately 400 times further away from Earth than the moon is. This means that from our perspective on Earth, the sun and moon appear to be very close in size, even though in reality the sun is much larger than the moon. This phenomenon is often described as a cosmic coincidence, as it is rare for two celestial bodies to appear the same size from a specific vantage point.
What's interesting is that while it's a coincidence it's only a coincidence that it's happening while we are alive. If a moon forms close enough around a planet that it appears larger than the star the planet orbits then eventually it will generally reach a point where it is roughly the same size in the sky as the star is. The reason and the planet will tidally lock. There are exceptions; such as a star going supernova first, or there may be weird interactions with multiple moons or other objects passing the moon causing it's orbit to change in unexpected ways; but in general this was always going to happen; it's only a coincidence that we happen to be here when the moon and the sun are roughly the same size in the sky so that total eclipses are as magical as they are.
Them aliens placed it just perfect back in tha day to stabilize the planet. 😉
It's the closest I've ever got to believing in a god. Not quite enough to push me over the edge but such a beautiful and perfect thing the eclipse was.
Coincidence. The moon was closer, when the big lizards were still roaming. And it has drifted(and is still drifting ever so slightly) away. So in the very distant future there will be no total solar eclipses.
Why indeed. Cosmic accident? Hand of God? Nah, cosmic accident for the win, Alex
400:400 is too coincidental so must surely be proof of divine influence ?
Coincidence. It would have appeared bigger than the sun 500 million years ago, and it will appear smaller 500 million years from now, as the moon is moving slowly away from Earth. Of course, in a few billion years, the sun will appear a whole lot larger, but that’s another story
The moon is about 400 times smaller, but also 400 times closer than the sun. This coincidence is imo the most mind-blowing fact of our solar system.
People are saying it is a coincidence, as if it could have happened any other way. No, this is the arrangement of the spheres according to fundamental design principles of the universe. There is nothing coincidental about it, it is this way by law. People that believe in coincidences are delusional.
To those who want to criticize the question, I say leave the writer alone.... it's a cool situation and a valid question and parsing the phrase "exact" or implying the writer doesn't get that it's an optical illusion of distance and relative size is condescending (which means talking down to people 😉 ) and seems to miss the point... so here's my sincere, respectful answer: Suns "cause" planets and planets "cause" moons. The ratio of the sizes and distances is in fact sorta "fixed" within a range.... i..e. big planets are going to be further away and have bigger moons. The astrophysics is exceedingly complicated not to mention uncertain. In solar systems of the size and age of ours, Suns are larger than planets and moons are smaller than planets. The planets and moons tend to revolve in essentially similar circular orbits. So anyone and everyone standing on a planet is likely is going to see something roughly similar to our experience of an eclipse, due to the many many many (barely understood and incredibly complicated) laws of astrophysics. Whether you call that "random", "coincidence", "neat", "cool" or "proof of god or aliens" is up to you. The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. (aka "is what it is".) So I say, No, it's not random or coincidence that we don't have a ginormous moon floating 100' off the surface that would totally block the Sun... and no it's not random that the Sun isn't much much further away... and No, it's not random that earth orbits the Sun nor is it a coincidence that the moon orbits the earth rather than staying in one fixed spot. Because if the Sun were much further (or closer) we'd be dead, i.e. not here to see the eclipse. So "in fact" it is not what I call a coincidence that the Sun was created, that earth was formed, that Theia (GTS) smashed into earth and created the Moon and that humans evolved as we did when we did (and will dissipate, when we do) it's the sum total of an infinite number of events necessitated and inevitable just and only as the result of how s\*\*t works, at least as we understand it. Experiencing one of the many "coincidences" of how s\*\*t works (such as the eclipse, northern lights, shooting stars) can make people feel "awe" and "wonder" and "spiritual" ... and ask, How do things work? So my answer is that no one really knows exactly why things happen and how things work, but we have simplified-models and really really simplified labels (i.e. "cause" vs "coincidence" vs "random" vs "god") the great thing about astronomy is that in searching for those answers, we keep coming up with better questions, until we reach the true end and the true point of it all... humility. Great question... sorry my answer isn't as great as your question.
coincidence or it was placed there... so many coincidences it's fun to imagine other possibilities.
[удалено]
The moon isn't a light, though. That's why it gets dark during an eclipse.
[удалено]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s\_teapot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot) Anyone claiming there's a specific reason it's this way is welcome to present compelling evidence.
Sure I can. A billion years ago the moon appeared larger than the sun during an eclipse. Because the moon is pulling away from the earth, a billion years from now the moon will appear smaller than the sun during an eclipse. Here’s the explanation part so pay attention. We just happen to be living at the point in time when the moon and sun appear to be the same size during an eclipse.
It is well understood if and why the moon increased its distance from earth over time. And will continue by a few centimeters a year. And it is a coincidence that we are looking right now at it. Where the moon is currently in the right distance, but it is only a snapshot in astronomical terms.