All right skeptical community, I've got a question. I have read in a Christian publication (when I was a Christian) that the fact that our planet is the
only one in the known universe to experience total solar eclipses, that this is evidence of the uniqueness of our world and Intelligent Design (or Intelligent
Maneuvering, if you will). Here's the argument.
The moon is about 400 times closer to the earth than the sun. It is also about 400 times smaller than our mother star. That means that the sun and moon, to a human observer, look about the same size (even though one is much more massive than the other). When a solar eclipse occurs, our sun is completely "covered" by the moon, practically an exact "fit." This is hailed by some theists to be no mere coincidence and "heavenly" evidence of design.
My first reaction is the fact that the moon is receding away from the earth at an exceptionally tiny rate. But if you go back or forward far enough in time, there would be no such thing as this "exact fit" for total eclipses of the sun.
What are your thoughts on this matter? I am not very well versed in astronomy or physics, so I would like to tap the collective intellects of all of you here to find if there is any rational or physical reason for this solar/lunar situation. Of course, even if there is no rational "reason", that wouldn't prove any intelligent maneuvering. It very well could just be a complete coincidence. But, I still would like to dig deeper. Any thoughts?
The moon is about 400 times closer to the earth than the sun. It is also about 400 times smaller than our mother star. That means that the sun and moon, to a human observer, look about the same size (even though one is much more massive than the other). When a solar eclipse occurs, our sun is completely "covered" by the moon, practically an exact "fit." This is hailed by some theists to be no mere coincidence and "heavenly" evidence of design.
My first reaction is the fact that the moon is receding away from the earth at an exceptionally tiny rate. But if you go back or forward far enough in time, there would be no such thing as this "exact fit" for total eclipses of the sun.
What are your thoughts on this matter? I am not very well versed in astronomy or physics, so I would like to tap the collective intellects of all of you here to find if there is any rational or physical reason for this solar/lunar situation. Of course, even if there is no rational "reason", that wouldn't prove any intelligent maneuvering. It very well could just be a complete coincidence. But, I still would like to dig deeper. Any thoughts?
