Suppose that instead of being inclined to Earth's orbit around the Sun, the Moon's orbit was in the same plane as Earth's orbit around the Sun. In this hypothetical situation, approximately how many solar eclipses would occur each year?

Question

Physics

Selina Dean

31 December, 18:55

Suppose that instead of being inclined to Earth's orbit around the Sun, the Moon's orbit was in the same plane as Earth's orbit around the Sun. In this hypothetical situation, approximately how many solar eclipses would occur each year?

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Answers (1)

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Clay Peck · Answer 1

12

Explanation:

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon in between the sun and the earth. Since in reality, the moons orbit is inclined, this aligning doesnt occur often. But if the orbit of the moon were in the same plane as the earth orbit, and since the moon orbits the earth once a month, the three objects would align every month. This makes it 12 times in a year.