The sun’s diameter is about 1,391,000 km. The moon’s diameter is about 3,475 km. How many times bigger is the sun than the moon? You may want to use a calculator on this one!
If they were the same distance from the Earth, the Sun would be about 400 times wider than the Moon.
If they were the same distance from the Earth, the Sun would be about 400 times wider than the Moon.
We can have a solar eclipse because the Sun is farther away from the earth than the Moon. If you were to compare an object such as a tree at a distance of 50 meters to the exact same size object at 100 meters. The object that is farther would appear about half as tall as the object that is closer. We call that perspective and learn about that in art. This is a actually a mathematical concept.
Perspective should be considered when looking at the visible sizes of the Sun and Moon. We know that the Sun is about 400 times larger in diameter than the Moon. Using this same principle of perspective, we know that the apparent size of the Moon will be larger than the Sun during the Eclipse. The only way that would be possible is if the distance to the Sun is at least 400 times greater than the distance to the Moon.
The Sun ranges from 147,000,000 km to 152,000,000 km in distance from the Earth. The Moon is 360,000 km to 406,000 km. If the sun needs to be at least 400 times farther, to cover the sun, will the Moon cover the sun at a distance of 360,000 km and the Sun at 152,000,000 km from the Earth?
You can predict this with math!
You can predict this with math!
THE NEXT SOLAR ECLIPSE
The next US Solar Eclipse, that can be seen from coast to coast will be on August 12, 2045. How older will you be? How old will your parents be?
The next US Solar Eclipse, that can be seen from coast to coast will be on August 12, 2045. How older will you be? How old will your parents be?