Re: The Heavenly Match: A Cosmic Oddity

On 2008-10-25, sasam2 <fspc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Oct 24, 11:54 pm, Mark VandeWettering <wetter...@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
On 2008-10-24, sasam2 <f...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:







Some say that Stonhenge is a rough predictor of solar eclipses. The
idea seems to have merit, since the ancients regarded the event as
very dramatic indeed - a sign of disaster from heaven. A once in a
lifetime experience if you stand on one spot, though a fairly regular
occurrence on earth - at least once a year somewhere on the globe.

We now know the cause to be natural, although you may still get
goosebumps to witness the exact masking of the sun showing only it's
outer corona ring for a few minutes - the strange feeling associated
with a sudden temperature decline and weird lighting. No wonder you
get eclipse chasers hooked on this experience.

The eclipse is not always total, since the moon moves in an elliptical
path around the earth. Where the ratio of the sun to moon size is
roughly 400, the ratio of distances from earth of these two bodies
varies between appr. 370 - 420.

The fact remains that a one to one eclipse match occur very regularly
- that is - if you did not have the knowledge of modern science -
these two bodies would appear exactly the same size to an observer on
earth.

The oddity is not so much in this 1:1 match - how coincidental it may
however seem.

The oddity is more in the fact that this phenomenon occurs in full
view of a form of life which has sufficiently developed to have
consciousness.

Imagine an electric fence stretching for a hundred miles with a single
six foot gap somewhere along its length.  All along its length are a
series of blindfolded people each marching toward the fence.  Most are
electrocuted when they get tangled up in the fence, but one guy makes it
through the gap.  Upon reaches the other side, he removes his blindfold
and marvels at the coincidence that a gap just large enough for him to
go through coincidently happened to be in front of him.

It's just a coincidence.

        Mark



According to your comparison there might just be a 100 worlds out
there each with a life form with highly developed consioussness and
each with a random number of moons and moon sizes. We just happen to
be the lucky one with the near-exact fit to our very own sun.

Not that lucky. After all, in my life, I've only managed to be in an
solar eclipse track once, and it was completely overcast and raining.

I can just see the peopleoids of planet Xenon cursing each of it's 10
ridiculously large moons which keeps blocking the sun out so the crops
won't grow. Or the inhabitants of planet Zoltar wishing they had more
than the mere spec of a moon cause they keep bumping into things at
night.

You should spend some more time outside at night. As an amateur
astronomer, I'm frequently amazed at how bright just the ordinary
starlight can be. Your eyes are remarkably efficient, and even without
moonlight, it's not impossible to navigate at night, at least in open
terrain. It's a good thing too, since many nocturnal animals have to do
this for significant portions of the night each month.

I'm curious though. Is there a point to this line of inquiry?

Mark

Cheers

Sam


.

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