 |  2116738 | Jun 22, 2007 12:06am | Did you know that your thumb held out at arm's length is wide enough to block out 3 or 4 full moons side by side?
Did you know the same is true for the Sun? Of course the atmospheric glare makes that one a little hard to carry out, but it is true! Both the Moon and the Sun have angular diameters of 0.5 degrees while your thumb is about 1.5 degrees to 2 degrees wide at arm's length.
Here is a nice graphic demonstrating the relative size of the Sun to the planets.
Here is the larger image (842x596)
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|  qthews | Jun 23, 2007 1:04pm | If their angular diameters weren't the same we would never got total eclipses (or at least so spectacular total eclipses) AND partial/anular eclipses, so it's not only a nice trivia, but even an important astronomical fact.
Ciao! |
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Sponsor |  MJ-Brutus | Jun 23, 2007 5:11pm | | Straight Dope on the puzzle of why both Moon and Sun sometimes appear to be larger at the horizon than straight up. |
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| The Relative Size of the Sun | | |
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