[1,392,000 to be exact.]
1,400,000 divided by 3,500 = 400.
So the Sun has a diameter 400 times larger than that of the Moon.
The distance from the Moon to the Earth is roughly 375,000 kilometers. [It varies because of it's elliptical orbit; at perigee it's approximately 360,000 kilometers and at apogee it's approximately 405,000 kilometers... which works out to an average of 382,500 kilometers. NASA]
The distance from the Sun to the Earth is roughly 150,000,000 kilometers. [149,597,892 kilometers to be exact.]
150,000,000 divided by 375,000 = 400.
So the Sun is 400 times further away than the Moon.
To reiterate: the Sun is 400 times bigger than the Moon but also 400 times further away.
This unbelievable set of circumstances regarding the relative sizes and distances between the Earth, Moon, and Sun give rise to the incredible phenomena of Solar Eclipses.
The Moon and Sun appear to be THE SAME SIZE from our perspective here on Earth even though the Sun is tremendously bigger.
"There is no astronomical reason why the moon and the sun should fit so well. It is the sheerest of coincidences, and only the Earth among all the planets is blessed in this fashion." -- Isaac Asimov
1,400,000 divided by 3,500 = 400.
So the Sun has a diameter 400 times larger than that of the Moon.
The distance from the Moon to the Earth is roughly 375,000 kilometers. [It varies because of it's elliptical orbit; at perigee it's approximately 360,000 kilometers and at apogee it's approximately 405,000 kilometers... which works out to an average of 382,500 kilometers. NASA]
The distance from the Sun to the Earth is roughly 150,000,000 kilometers. [149,597,892 kilometers to be exact.]
150,000,000 divided by 375,000 = 400.
So the Sun is 400 times further away than the Moon.
To reiterate: the Sun is 400 times bigger than the Moon but also 400 times further away.
This unbelievable set of circumstances regarding the relative sizes and distances between the Earth, Moon, and Sun give rise to the incredible phenomena of Solar Eclipses.
The Moon and Sun appear to be THE SAME SIZE from our perspective here on Earth even though the Sun is tremendously bigger.
"There is no astronomical reason why the moon and the sun should fit so well. It is the sheerest of coincidences, and only the Earth among all the planets is blessed in this fashion." -- Isaac Asimov
1 comment:
Interesting.
Another interesting fact about the moon is that in all other moons in our solar system ours is extremely large in comparison. It is theorized that the moon was created by a large Mars size planet colliding with the earth when our solar system was forming. The impact broke off a large chunk of the earth which eventually formed the moon.
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