The Conspiracy of the Solar Eclipse

a reply to: eraTera
A solar total eclipse requires certain factors like distance from the sun, size and distance of the moon from the planet etc.
Thinking about it for a second, can you propose an orbit for a moon that could never produce an eclipse of any sort (total, partial, annular) as viewed from the planet it orbits?

originally posted by: Pilgrum
a reply to: eraTera
A solar total eclipse requires certain factors like distance from the sun, size and distance of the moon from the planet etc.
Thinking about it for a second, can you propose an orbit for a moon that could never produce an eclipse of any sort (total, partial, annular) as viewed from the planet it orbits?

The thread was talking about the occurrence of a full solar eclipse. The occurrence of them on Earth and on other planets. It stated that the chance of earth getting a moon to get full solar eclipse was odd, considering there was only one moon. While other planets had a lot more shots at this, like Neptune for example, which has 14 moons and also produces a full solar eclipse.


If what can be classified as the smallest moon -- could exist between a planet and sun -- then it may not necessarily produce what could be classified as a partial eclipse while in its orbit.

Here why don't I write a counter argument for you. Since a lot of these posts have been saying things not mentioned in the original post.

What you could say is -- "hey! who cares about full solar eclipses. The aliens did not leave a message to anyone. All the moons we see that cause full solar eclipse are not going to be there forever, so it's just a coincidence in "time" for us that we see a solar eclipse and are wondering about it. Those who'd see the eclipse later, 570 million years later, for example, would not see a full solar eclipse, but a partial one. So the argument in the original thread is irrelevant."

And my argument back would be: what if the aliens wanted "this" generation to see the clues. Or leaves clues about their alien experiment to "this" generation.

originally posted by: eraTera

originally posted by: jadedANDcynical
What about when one of the outer planets has an eclipse and the moon doing the eclipsing is also experiencing an eclipse?

Eclipseption.

Like the rare triple eclipse on Jupiter?

www.nasa.gov...

Jupiter has 69 moons -- this seems probable.

I don't get what you don't understand; unless the moon orbited the earth on it's adjacent axis, a total solar eclipse is extremely probable. The reason it doesn't orbit earth on it's adjacent axis, is physics.

Nothing to see here, no strangeness about it. Even if it was improbable, that doesn't suggest anything other than the moon hit the random numbers game lottery. Why would this suggest aliens and what does life at all have to do with the moons orbit and eclipses?

a reply to: SRPrime

Yeah. Once something happens the probabilities don't really mean much. Want to do something amazing and practically impossible? Well, grab a deck of cards:

As an example of the fallacy of looking at results and conjecturing backwards on what the probability of such occurring was, grab a set of playing cards and deal them out face up, one at a time. When the first card is dealt, the probability of it being whatever it is, is 52-1, the probability of the second card being whatever it is is then 51-1, giving a combined probability of 2652-1. Once you have got through the deck, the probability of you having dealt those cards in that order is a staggering one in 8x1067, which is pretty much "nearly zero", yet you just managed to do it!

rationalwiki.org...

What are the odds that the Moon is the right apparent size to (sort of) match the apparent size of the Sun? Odds don't matter, because it does.

What are the odds that the orbit of the Moon is close to the ecliptic. Pretty good actually, but odds don't matter, because it does.

What are the odds that both would happen? Doesn't matter, because they did.

Just like it doesn't matter how long the odds are that you dealt that particular sequence of card, because you did.

originally posted by: SRPrime

originally posted by: eraTera

originally posted by: jadedANDcynical
What about when one of the outer planets has an eclipse and the moon doing the eclipsing is also experiencing an eclipse?

Eclipseption.

Like the rare triple eclipse on Jupiter?

www.nasa.gov...

Jupiter has 69 moons -- this seems probable.

I don't get what you don't understand; unless the moon orbited the earth on it's adjacent axis, a total solar eclipse is extremely probable. The reason it doesn't orbit earth on it's adjacent axis, is physics.

Nothing to see here, no strangeness about it. Even if it was improbable, that doesn't suggest anything other than the moon hit the random numbers game lottery. Why would this suggest aliens and what does life at all have to do with the moons orbit and eclipses?

I don't know if a total solar eclipse is extremely probable. Mars has two moons. Neither cast total solar eclipse.
Yes I've heard the answer is simply physics.

"Even if it was improbable, that doesn't suggest anything other than the moon hit the random numbers game lottery." -- this seems odd that this happened right where there is human life.

a reply to: eraTera

Does this seem odd?
www.npr.org...

double post

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: SRPrime

Yeah. Once something happens the probabilities don't really mean much. Want to do something amazing and practically impossible? Well, grab a deck of cards:

As an example of the fallacy of looking at results and conjecturing backwards on what the probability of such occurring was, grab a set of playing cards and deal them out face up, one at a time. When the first card is dealt, the probability of it being whatever it is, is 52-1, the probability of the second card being whatever it is is then 51-1, giving a combined probability of 2652-1. Once you have got through the deck, the probability of you having dealt those cards in that order is a staggering one in 8x1067, which is pretty much "nearly zero", yet you just managed to do it!

rationalwiki.org...

What are the odds that the Moon is the right apparent size to (sort of) match the apparent size of the Sun? Odds don't matter, because it does.

What are the odds that the orbit of the Moon is close to the ecliptic. Pretty good actually, but odds don't matter, because it does.

What are the odds that both would happen? Doesn't matter, because they did.

Just like it doesn't matter how long the odds are that you dealt that particular sequence of card, because you did.

Probabilities may matter if considering this quote "Even if it was improbable, that doesn't suggest anything other than the moon hit the random numbers game lottery. "

one could further say -- well take a look around the universe. Still no evidence of life, but this lottery 'moon' number occurred right where an even bigger lottery outcome of life.

a reply to: eraTera

Probabilities matter in poker, when you are betting that something will happen.

Once something has happened probabilities are irrelevant. You can't raise after the call.

See the difference?

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: eraTera

Does this seem odd?
www.npr.org...

Sure that may have been quite a lucky occurrence, but because of mass speculation of aliens, I think it is safer to say that the outcome of life/moon may have been left as clues.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: eraTera

Probabilities matter in poker, when you are betting that something will happen.

Once something has happened probabilities are irrelevant. You can't raise after the call.

See the difference?

Yeah, but tracing back on probabilities in poker, may at times suggest that someone "cheated."

Tracing back on probabilities in universe may reveal some clues about nature of life.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: eraTera

Does this seem odd?
www.npr.org...

www.cnbc.com...

It is, sometimes, possible that someone could have rigged the lottery.

a reply to: FlukeSkywalker

dude wtf?

a reply to: eraTera

trillions

originally posted by: humanoidlord
a reply to: eraTera

trillions

life odds

a reply to: eraTera

Your question shows you look at probabilty the wrong way, the odds will always look fantastic if you work back from the result.

You remind me of these people

The real problem is you assume to much

Other Moons that cause an Eclipse

originally posted by: wmd_2008
a reply to: eraTera

The real problem is you assume to much

Other Moons that cause an Eclipse

Thanks for this!

I knew that due to the Sun looking small as seen from Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto that their moons could cause a total eclipse -- so I already knew the OP was incorrect about Earth's moon being the only one, but I didn't realize that there are at least 32 cases where this is true (at least according to this info).

originally posted by: Soylent Green Is People

originally posted by: wmd_2008
a reply to: eraTera

The real problem is you assume to much

Other Moons that cause an Eclipse

Thanks for this!

I knew that due to the Sun looking small as seen from Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto that their moons could cause a total eclipse -- so I already knew the OP was incorrect about Earth's moon being the only one, but I didn't realize that there are at least 32 cases where this is true (at least according to this info).

Yes it's all about angular size and distance from the Sun not some super alien experiment with some of the people on here I wonder whats happened to the education system over the last 30+ years.