There will be a final total solar eclipse. Eventually.
There will be a final total solar eclipse. Eventually. And it's happening because the Moon is leaving us — about 3.8 centimetres further away every year. That doesn't sound like much, but tidal forces have been quietly doing this work for billions of years. The same forces are also stealing energy from Earth's spin. Hundreds of millions of years ago, a day on Earth lasted only around 22 hours. Now it's 24. At some point far in the future, the Moon will sit just far enough away that it can no longer perfectly cover the Sun. The geometry that makes total eclipses possible — one of the most precise coincidences in nature — will be gone for good. The Moon will still be there. Just too small in the sky to matter. Follow Deep Field Vault for more of the universe, one quiet fact at a time.