This hasn’t been much of a research week for me. I’m more focused on the fiction side of my writing at the moment, rather than the science stuff.
So today I’m just sharing some artwork, something I didn’t quite get done in time for the eclipse.
You know, we are kind of lucky that we have these total solar eclipses. By some amazing coincidence, our large Sun and small Moon appear to be the same size in Earth’s sky, allowing the Moon to perfectly cover up the Sun.
That doesn’t happen anywhere else in the Solar System. That perfect planet-moon-star alignment is likely rare, perhaps even unique in our galaxy. So whenever we make first contact with aliens, and they start bragging about their luminous forests or crystal waterfalls or whatever, we Earthlings will have a unique and beautiful thing to brag about to: we have total solar eclipses.
Planet Pailly 
It really is an amazing coincidence that the moon just happens to be roughly the same size as the sun in our epoch. A billion years ago, it was larger and an eclipse probably covered the corona, the outer ring of fire visible during totality. A billion years from now, the moon will be smaller than the sun in the sky, and total eclipses will disappear from Earth’s sky.
(Don’t be sad about that though, instead be sad that Earth will no longer be habitable by then due to the increasing luminosity of the sun.)
LikeLiked by 2 people
That is another part of the amazing coincidence. We just happen to be in the right place and the right time. The odds that another civilization is out there and gets to see something like this must be absurdly small.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was in Missouri during the eclipse in a location where almost 96% of the sun was blocked. Was still pretty bright outside. I was surprised.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s interesting to hear. I guess it’s all about expectations. I had something like 70%, and I was surprised by how dark it got. I mean, it was nowhere near as dark as a total eclipse, but still… it was noticeable, and I wasn’t expecting that.
LikeLike