Mondo Knows Facts
Total solar eclipses are possible due to a cosmic geometric coincidence
The Sun is 400 times wider than the Moon but also 400 times further away
The Sun's physical diameter is roughly 400 times larger than that of the Moon, but the Sun is also situated roughly 400 times further away from Earth. This matching ratio causes both celestial bodies to appear almost identically sized in Earth's sky, enabling total solar eclipses.
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Tags: eclipse, sun, moon
Total solar eclipses are possible due to a cosmic geometric coincidence: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- The Sun is 400 times wider than the Moon but also 400 times further away. The figure is taken from USGS, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a space fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Space shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.