In other words, is the position of the moon during a total eclipse exactly on the same spot everytime? I have heard of an annular eclipse in which the moon appears smaller leaving a thick ring around the moon's shadow. I was thinking maybe there was variations in between the two that are visible to, maybe, a high precision instrument since every total eclipse to the naked eye is exactly the same.
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There's a range of possible distances (hence apparent sizes) of the Sun and Moon. If the Moon appears smaller than the Sun, there is an annular eclipse and if larger, there is a total eclipse. The Moon's apparent angular diameter can range from 29.3 to 34.1 arcminutes and the Sun's from 31.5 to 32.5 arcminutes. So the Moon can appear up to 8% larger than the Sun and the Sun can appear up to 11% larger than the Moon.
Variations in annular eclipses are usually obvious because of the size of the ring of unblocked sunlight. Variations in total eclipses are not quite so obvious. The Moon's size at its largest might be enough to block solar prominences from view at least during part of the eclipse.
Variations in annular eclipses are usually obvious because of the size of the ring of unblocked sunlight. Variations in total eclipses are not quite so obvious. The Moon's size at its largest might be enough to block solar prominences from view at least during part of the eclipse.
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yes and no it is in the same spot for viewing on how it would appear and in diffrent parts of the earthand its only once a year that theres a total solar eclipse but never the exact same spot in space