Question 2: On August 21, 2017, the Sun was at a distance of ~1.0115 AU from...

Question 2: On August 21, 2017, the Sun was at a distance of ~1.0115 AU from Earth, and most of the continental United States experienced a solar eclipse.

a) Calculate the angular size of the Sun as seen from Earth on that date.

b) Given that the Moon's angular size varies over the course of its orbit as given by the plots you created for Question 1, over approximately what fraction of the Moon's orbit does it appear to be large enough to create a total eclipse if the Sun were always the apparent size it was on August 21?

c) Without doing a detailed calculation, can you come up with a rough estimate for how frequently we should expect solar eclipses to be annular vs. total?

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Expert Solution

genius_generous answered 1 year ago

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