Page:Illustrated Astronomy.pdf/71



THE FUTURE OF ECLIPSES

Both the Earth and the Moon attract one another. However, this attraction has not been constant since both formed, and the distance between them has continually changed. Actually, as we saw in chapter III, the Moon moves away four centimeters per year from Earth, which confirms that in the distant past, the Moon was much closer to Earth, and in the future, it will be much further.

What are the consequences of this? In a distant future, we no longer can be witnesses of total solar eclipses since the Moon, even in its closest-to-the-Earth position, it won’t be able to block the Sun completely, and there will be only annular or partial eclipses.



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