Apologetics

Moonstruck

The moon is 400 times smaller than the sun - and 400 times closer, so it covers the sun perfectly during an eclipse. Here is what that precise design reveals about the Creator.

Jeff Reed Thursday, March 26, 2026 6 min read

As you probably recall, on April 8 2024, a total eclipse graced a portion of the North American skies, completely blocking out the sun in the “totality zone” for 4 minutes, 28 seconds. Millions of people in that zone stared in awe (wearing spiffy, approved solar eclipse sunglasses, of course), as people all over the world have done during these events for thousands of years.

I learned some things during this eclipse I never knew before.* Perhaps you’ve never understood them either.** Here goes:

The sun is millions of times larger than the moon … and yet the moon, when it passes in front of the sun as it did that day, blocks it perfectly. All we are able to see during a total eclipse is the sun’s corona, what some describe as the “diamond ring” effect.

(Editor’s note: For the young man who plans ahead, a total eclipse would be the perfect time to propose. If she says yes, they will always remember exactly when, where and how they got engaged. And if she says no, he can slink away in the darkness and never have to see her again. But I digress.)

How does that happen – our moon being a tiny fraction of the size of the sun, yet it is the exact size to block it out like that? I’m glad you asked.

Try this on for size (pun intended): The precise correlation of the apparent sizes of the sun and the moon results from the fact that while the sun is roughly 400X larger in diameter, it is also approximately 400X farther from the Earth.** The slight difference between these measurements allows us to observe the sun’s corona during a total solar eclipse.

According to Jay Richards, co-author of The Privileged Planet: It is because of total solar eclipses we were able to confirm Einstein’s general theory of relativity because of the bending of starlight around the edge of a star – the sun – during a total eclipse. We were also able to figure out what stars are made of because of total eclipses.

But wait, there’s more ….

There are 65 major moons in our solar system and many smaller ones. But we Earth-creatures are the only ones who can enjoy total solar eclipses where our moon just barely covers the sun’s surface. If there were life forms on Mars or Jupiter, they would not see total eclipses because the size of their moons is not in the right proportion in relation to the size of the sun.

So: the best place to view total solar eclipses in our solar system is – just where there happens to be intelligent observers to see them, namely, Earth. The only planet that could provide perfect total solar eclipses from the point of view of an observer … “just happens” to be ours.

Our perfectly sized, perfectly situated moon also plays a key role in making Earth habitable for humans and other carbon-based life forms by stabilizing the tilt of its axis. That gives our planet a more-or-less stable climate.

The climate in South Florida is very stable: hot, humid and occasionally rather windy. Make that extremely windy sometimes around August and September, you know?

The moon also helps regulate our ocean tides. Mars’ two moons are much too small to do that, and as a result, Mars wobbles on its axis way more than Earth does. (Word is the other planets tease it with that “Weebles wobble” thing.) That’s a rough break for Martians, although I understand Martian surfers are totally stoked about it.

Jay Richards says this unique solar experience is evidence of an intentional Creator. Order never comes from chaos without intelligence.

But wait, there’s still more ….

Observing solar eclipses has helped in making or confirming several other major scientific discoveries. Those discoveries would be hard to make on a planet without total eclipses.

Eclipses help us unlock the mystery of stars. Scientists since Isaac Newton (1666) have known that sunlight splits into the colors of the spectrum when passed through a prism. But astronomers only began to observe solar eclipses with spectroscopes, which use prisms, in the 19th century. This allowed them to discover how the sun produces its light.

All of this gave astronomers a way to figure out the structure of the sun itself. Since the sun looks larger from the earth than from any other planet with a moon, we can discern finer details about its composition and corona than we could from any other planet.

This knowledge, in turn, has allowed astronomers to make sense of the light from the distant stars. Total eclipses, then, have been a key that allows us to unlock the physics of stars. And all we have to do is stand still, look up in awe and wonder, and be humble enough to recognize the absolute miracle of life on our beautiful, magnificent, orderly, unique – and uniquely designed – privileged planet.

Once again, in the words of Jay Richards: This unique solar experience is evidence of an intentional Creator. Order never comes from chaos without intelligence.

Or, as an earlier writer put it around 3000 years ago:

Psalm 19:1:

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

 And their expanse is declaring the work of his hands.

Kent

*I am very much indebted to the Discovery Institute for most of this information. Recently I attended (online) “The Dallas Conference on Science and Faith.” It was fascinating – at least, the parts I understood were. Some parts I think you needed an advanced degree in molecular and cellular biology and/or astrophysics to grasp, and darn it all, I skipped those classes in seminary.

**For those of you (science nerds) who are just dying to know: the sun is approximately 865,370 miles in diameter; the moon approximately 2,159.1 miles … so the sun’s diameter is 401X bigger. And the sun is approximately 93,120,000 miles from Earth; the moon approximately 238,900 miles … so the sun is 390X farther away. The slight difference between these factors allows us to observe the sun’s corona during a total solar eclipse – a critical element for cosmological discovery.

Echoing Jay Richards: All of this is evidence of an intentional, intelligent, pre-existing Creator. You can’t get something from nothing without a Creator, design from randomness without a Designer, and order from chaos without Intelligence.

**Testing Einstein’s Theory

But wait, there’s more …. Eclipses have done far more than help astronomers decipher starlight.

In the early 20th century, Albert Einstein predicted in his General Theory of Relativity that light passing near a massive object like the sun would bend. To test his theory, astronomers needed to measure the changes in the positions of starlight passing near the sun’s edge compared to their positions months later when the sun was in another part of the sky.

Have you ever tried to look at starlight right next to the edge of the sun? It’s a bad idea and wouldn’t work anyway. The test could only be done during a total solar eclipse. That’s why, during the 1919 eclipse, two teams of astronomers set out to confirm Einstein’s theory. They succeeded, as did other astronomers during later eclipses. This led scientists to embrace Einstein’s theory, which is the basis of our current knowledge of the universe.

https://washingtonstand.com/podcast/ep-88-solar-eclipse—doomsday-or-intentional-design

https://evolutionnews.org/2024/04/to-understand-the-meaning-of-a-solar-eclipse/

Frequently asked questions

Why does the moon perfectly cover the sun during a total solar eclipse?

Because the math is uncanny. The sun is roughly 400 times larger in diameter than the moon — but it also happens to be roughly 400 times farther away from Earth. More precisely, the sun's diameter is about 401 times bigger (865,370 miles vs. 2,159.1 miles), and the sun is about 390 times farther away (93,120,000 miles vs. 238,900 miles). That tiny mismatch is exactly what allows us to see the sun's corona — the 'diamond ring' effect — during totality. There are 65 major moons in our solar system, and Earth is the only place where any of them lines up to give an observer a perfect total solar eclipse. The one planet that 'just happens' to provide perfect eclipses also happens to be the one planet with intelligent observers to see them. As Jay Richards, co-author of The Privileged Planet, puts it: this unique solar experience is evidence of an intentional Creator. Order never comes from chaos without intelligence.

How have solar eclipses helped scientific discovery?

Total solar eclipses have unlocked some of our most important scientific knowledge. Astronomers have used the brief darkness of totality, combined with spectroscopes, to figure out what stars are made of and how the sun produces its light — building on Isaac Newton's 1666 discovery that sunlight splits into the colors of the spectrum through a prism. In 1919, two teams of astronomers used a total solar eclipse to test Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Einstein predicted that light passing near a massive object like the sun would bend, but the test could only be done during an eclipse — you can't measure starlight next to a fully-lit sun. The eclipse confirmed his prediction, and Einstein's theory became the foundation of modern cosmology. Because the sun appears larger from Earth than from any other planet with a moon, we can also study its structure and composition in finer detail than would be possible anywhere else in the solar system. The best vantage point in the solar system for understanding the universe just happens to be the planet where intelligent observers live.

What does Psalm 19:1 say about creation?

Psalm 19:1 says, 'The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands.' Written roughly 3,000 years ago, that one verse captures what modern cosmology keeps confirming. The size ratio between the sun and the moon, the precise distance from Earth that makes total solar eclipses possible, the way the moon stabilizes Earth's axial tilt and regulates the tides — none of these are necessary features of the universe. They just happen to be exactly the conditions that make life and discovery possible here. Reformed Christians have long held that creation itself is one of God's two books — alongside Scripture — telling us about Him. You don't need a telescope to know God exists, but when you look up with one, what you find lines up beautifully with what the Bible has been saying all along. Or, as Jay Richards puts it: you can't get something from nothing without a Creator, design from randomness without a Designer, and order from chaos without Intelligence.

How does the moon make Earth habitable?

Earth's moon does far more than light up the night sky. Because it is perfectly sized and perfectly positioned, it stabilizes the tilt of Earth's axis, which in turn gives our planet a relatively stable climate. It also helps regulate ocean tides. Compare that to Mars, whose two moons are far too small to do the same job — as a result, Mars wobbles on its axis much more than Earth does, with much more dramatic climate consequences. The moon's stabilizing role is one of many fine-tuned features that make Earth habitable for human and other carbon-based life. From a Christian perspective, that's not a coincidence — it's design. As Jay Richards observes, order never comes from chaos without intelligence. The moon isn't just decorative; it's load-bearing for life on Earth, and it points beyond itself to a Creator who put it exactly where it needed to be.

Jeff Reed

Pastoral writing from the team at Christchurch Miami — a faith family on mission in Kendall, Miami.