Moons distance from the Earth

Greetings my fellow earthlings, pleaidians, bigfoots, greys, j-rods, reptiles, chupacabras and hairless cats. I have a pretty simple question for discussion.

Why do the sun and the moon appear the same size in the sky? When there is an eclipse, the moon is just big enough to cover the sun almost perfectly. Is there some kind of astronomical equation or law that explains this? It just seems like a very strange coincidence to me. If there is something that explains this, do other planets have the same relationship with their moons?

Originally posted by ElGatoLoco698
Why do the sun and the moon appear the same size in the sky?

Well because they are a picture drawn on the sky by the government of course.

Here is an illustration that explains it:

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is wholly or partially obscured. This can only happen during a new moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction as seen from the Earth. At least two and up to five solar eclipses occur each year on Earth, with between zero and two of them being total eclipses. Total solar eclipses are nevertheless rare at any location because during each eclipse totality exists only along a narrow corridor in the relatively tiny area of the Moon's umbra.

en.wikipedia.org...

I cant back this up right off hand but many years ago there was a docco on TV that at some stage was talking about the size of the moon (distance from earth) was different. They showed a computer model on the current understanding of how earth got it's moon- that is collided with earth very early on in the earth's life. After the collision, the moon stabilised in orbit but over the millions (indeed few billions) of years since the moon has slowly been moving further and further out of earth's gravity well.

Much earlier, apparently, the moon was much bigger in the sky.

The scary thing was that they were saying that as the moon leaves orbit, earth will become unstable in it's own orbit around the sun triggering the breakdown of global climate. Earth eventually will mirror it's brother, Mars.

lol. Of course "The Moon" is not thee 'only' moon earth has.
Cruithne although because of it's queer orbit it is also said to be a moon of the sun.

[edit on 9/13/2008 by Good Wolf]

Is it the Aztecs or Inca Indians who say they have memories of when there wasn't a moon which would imply that it is a recent object in our skies. . !

It's a cosmic coincidence. I know ATS is the wrong place to use the "C" word but it's true.

The relative size of the sun and moon and their relative distances from Earth just happen to make them appear to be the same size from our point of view. It's like using your thumb to cover a mountain in the distance.

The moon is slowly moving away from Earth. In the distant past, it was closer and would have completely covered the sun. In the distant future it will cover only a portion of the sun. We're lucky!

[edit on 13-9-2008 by Phage]

Originally posted by Mintwithahole.
Is it the Aztecs or Inca Indians who say they have memories of when there wasn't a moon which would imply that it is a recent object in our skies. . !

Yeah, but other civilizations who were around back then (such as the Chinese) DID in fact observe the Moon in the sky, so the Aztec reference to no Moon is probably just a creation story, such as the Jewish ..."and God created the heavens and the Earth..."

Just because they have a legend that tells of the Moon's creation does not necessarily mean that it was a "recent object in our skies". That's quite an unsubstantiated stretch.

The Haida people have a story that Orca Whales were created from two wolves who were trained by a man to hunt whales for him so he could eat. That doesn't mean that Orcas are a recent addition to the oceans.

[edit on 9/14/2008 by Soylent Green Is People]