Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. The Universe is out there, waiting for you to discover it. Total solar eclipses are possible on Earth, and occur whenever the Moon ...

But when the Sun, Earth, and Moon all align to produce a total eclipse, it teach us how far astronomical distances truly are. During a lunar eclipse, the Earth's shadow falls on the Moon; showing that ...

It is clearly just lucky timing. The moon used to be much closer to earth, so much that its cycle was more like 1 day (IIRC it may have been as short as 12 hours, and tides would have been incredibly ...