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Earth Will Have Its Last Total Solar Eclipse in Less Than a Billion Years

Earth Will Have Its Last Total Solar Eclipse in Less Than a Billion Years

One of three things happened when the Moon passed directly between the Earth and the Sun throughout recorded existence. 

Either we've had a total solar eclipse, in which the Moon is close enough to Earth for its shadow to fall on it; an annular eclipse, in which the Moon is too far away from Earth and its shadow ends before it reaches our planet; or a hybrid eclipse, in which sunrise/sunset observers see an annular eclipse and midday observers see a total eclipse.

A total solar eclipse is possible because, under the right conditions, the apparent diameter of the Moon in the sky is larger than the apparent diameter of the Sun, and all direct sunlight is blocked at specific points around the world. Also, the Moon and Sun appear to be the same size in the Earth's sky — the Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon, but the Moon is 400 times closer. 

Furthermore, as Sun fuses hydrogen into helium and consumes its nuclear fuel, the Sun gradually expands in size. The Moon, on the other hand, has been slowly drifting away from Earth since it formed billions of years ago. As it gets farther away and smaller as seen from Earth, and the Sun gets more significant, there will come a time when these two angular sizes will no longer match, and the Moon will be too small in the sky to block the entire Sun.

According to NASA, the Moon is moving away from Earth at a rate of about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) per year. As a result, total solar eclipses will become extinct in the very distant future because the Moon's apparent size in the Earth's sky will be too small to cover the Sun completely.

That day will occur approximately 600 million years in the future. According to a NASA paper, total solar eclipses will end in about 563 million years.

"Over time, the number and frequency of total solar eclipses will decrease," Vondrak, a lunar scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said in a statement. "About 600 million years from now, Earth will experience the beauty and drama of a total solar eclipse for the last time."

For the time being, a total solar eclipse can be seen from somewhere on Earth's surface once every 18 months on average. 

However, seeing a total solar eclipse from a specific location is rare because it takes approximately 375 years for a total solar eclipse to occur again at the exact location.

However, seeing a total solar eclipse from a specific location is rare because it takes approximately 375 years for a total solar eclipse to occur again at the exact location. In comparison, a total lunar eclipse, also known as a Blood Moon, can be seen from any site once every 2.5 years.

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