# The apparant size of the sun and moon **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 6, 2013, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175 "2013-03-06T11:08:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![K.S.Masmacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@K.S.Masmacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K.S.Masmacho)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/21 "2013-03-07T03:04:58Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Isaac Asimov addressed this in one of his many many science essays, marveling at this strange and highly unlikely coincidence which we pretty much take for granted. Let’s hear it for Asimov. A wee bit more intelligent than freshman stoners. I’d like to see that essay. My user name, as you may have guessed, is borrowed… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/22 "2013-03-07T07:11:08Z")
The two holes in the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk are exactly the right distance apart that they fit on the rings of a ring binder/folder. Both floppy disks and ring binders are designed objects, but the fact that one fits on the other is \*still \*a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/23 "2013-03-07T20:14:06Z")
The moon and sun superficially appear the same size to a squinty-eyed observer, but actually vary quite a bit due to the elliptical orbit of the moon (and also the earth around the sun) See [annular eclipse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annular_eclipse#Types) for the very common case of the moon being smaller in appearance with the sun. ---
**Author:** ![K.S.Masmacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@K.S.Masmacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K.S.Masmacho)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/24 "2013-03-08T00:54:27Z")
Yep, see my P.S. in the original post, up top. And thanks for the link! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/25 "2013-03-08T01:20:43Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > The moon and sun superficially appear the same size to a squinty-eyed observer sort of like an empty chair appears to contain a President? ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/26 "2013-03-08T03:41:09Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If it’s not a coincidence, what meaning could it possibly have? Well, have you noticed how a partial moon kind of looks like a banana… ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/27 "2013-03-08T05:43:48Z")
What about the the other planets in the solar system? Does the sun and one or more of their moons appear to be of similar size? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/28 "2013-03-08T13:33:45Z")
> [@K.S.Masmacho](#): > > …Sorry about that spelling error. > > And to clarify: My question is really, does this (a) blow your mind, (b) make you shrug it off and say, “Coincidence,” or (c), other > – and no matter which answer, why? I vote for “B”. What is _your_ response, and why? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/29 "2013-03-08T17:09:48Z")
There SHOULD be a certain incidence of surprising but meaningless coincidences in the physical world, for the same reason that experimenters using the arbitrary p=0.05 test for significance should find relationships that aren’t really there in 1 out of 20 results. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/30 "2013-03-08T17:34:58Z")
I have read somewhere (probably on the straight dope) that the moon size and position is unusual enough that extraterrestrial tourists would book vacations to earth specificialy to witness our unique and spectacular eclipses. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/31 "2013-03-08T17:52:23Z")
Ignoring the exact coincidence of its present size, the Earth’s large Moon may have played roles in Earth’s developing advanced life! (1) Doesn’t it deflect some asteroid/meteor collisions? (2) Tide pools, with their daily dry/wet cycle may have assisted the evolution of land life? (3) ??? [del]I wouldn’t rule out the size coincidence as having special meaning, but to develop the theme I’d be attacked as a mystic and gullible to teleology, so I’ll just erase this…[/del] ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/32 "2013-03-08T19:08:08Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > There SHOULD be a certain incidence of surprising but meaningless coincidences in the physical world, for the same reason that experimenters using the arbitrary p=0.05 test for significance should find relationships that aren’t really there in 1 out of 20 results. [xkcd](http://xkcd.com/882/) had a good comic on just that. For the OP, I do find it interesting, and whether or not it has significance would be entirely based on your perspective. If you’re religious, maybe it plays a role, like how maybe God uses it as part of miracles or messages or maybe as just something akin to an artistic signature. If you’re an atheist, it’s just a coincidence. Personally, it doesn’t really blow my mind, since it’s just always been that way and I’ve never really thought about it. It’s just like how mindblowing it should be that we’ve developed microscopic processors and manipulate electrons and light to communicate on the internet over great distances, but it’s just mundane. It would probably seem much more mindblowing if some random species of aliens showed up, who had some other type of moon configuration, then they’d probably marvel at it. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/33 "2013-03-08T21:01:20Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The two holes in the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk are exactly the right distance apart that they fit on the rings of a ring binder/folder. > > Both floppy disks and ring binders are designed objects, but the fact that one fits on the other is \*still \*a coincidence. What a strange tangent. I don’t really get it though. I don’t have 3.5" floppy to look at, but I remember only one hole in the casing, the one used for write protection. Also, aren’t the rings on ring binders about five inches apart, or aren’t we talking about three-ring binders? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/34 "2013-03-08T22:53:48Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > What a strange tangent. I don’t really get it though. I don’t have 3.5" floppy to look at, but I remember only one hole in the casing, the one used for write protection. [Two holes](http://www.dvdyourmemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Floppy-Disc.jpg) in a ds/hd 1.44mb 3.5" floppy > [@](#): > > Also, aren’t the rings on ring binders about five inches apart, or aren’t we talking about three-ring binders? Two hole binders or lever arch files [like this](http://img.weiku.com/waterpicture/2011/10/18/16/2_inches_A4_lever_arch_file_folder_634546263081449188_1.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/35 "2013-03-08T23:02:41Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I have read somewhere (probably on the straight dope) that the moon size and position is unusual enough that extraterrestrial tourists would book vacations to earth specificialy to witness our unique and spectacular eclipses. More likely you read it in a Chick comic. If you have a spaceship, all you have to do is look out the window to see the corona and stars around the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/36 "2013-03-09T00:03:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > [Two holes](http://www.dvdyourmemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Floppy-Disc.jpg) in a ds/hd 1.44mb 3.5" floppy > > Two hole binders or lever arch files [like this](http://img.weiku.com/waterpicture/2011/10/18/16/2_inches_A4_lever_arch_file_folder_634546263081449188_1.jpg). Ah, thanks for that. I just couldn’t picture what your were talking about. I guess those disks did have a second hole to show they were high capacity. I had totally forgotten that. So those holes are 9cm apart, as are the rings in an A4 lever arch ring binder. Well, that is a coincidence. Maybe not of the same magnitude as the sun and full moon being the same apparent size from the Earth, but a coincidence all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/37 "2013-03-09T13:14:39Z")
Chevrolet Blazer hubcaps had fake plastic bolt heads molded into them, and they fit the lug nut wrench supplied with the car. Is this a mystically significant coincidence? Or is it one of those bitter auto industry employee stories? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/38 "2013-03-09T18:25:01Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Ah, thanks for that. I just couldn’t picture what your were talking about. I guess those disks did have a second hole to show they were high capacity. I had totally forgotten that. So those holes are 9cm apart, as are the rings in an A4 lever arch ring binder. Well, that is a coincidence. Maybe not of the same magnitude as the sun and full moon being the same apparent size from the Earth, but a coincidence all the same. Indeed - even though both items are the end product of intelligent design, it’s still a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/39 "2013-03-09T19:09:50Z")
They may be the right distance apart, but surely those holes are far too small to fit the rings of a binder through? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175/40 "2013-03-09T21:20:18Z")
No - they actually fit quite well - it used to be a common trick to supply software and manuals in one binder - when software was small enough to fit on floppies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apparant-size-of-the-sun-and-moon/652175.md?page=3)