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What Would the Eclipsing of Two Moons Appear from its Planet’s Inhabitants?

-- Jessica | January 18, 2021

Question:

How would you describe the eclipsing of two moons? If two moons were to eclipse how would this appear to the inhabitants on the planet the moons orbit?

-- Jessica

Answer:

Since moons are visible by the light they reflect from the star that their parent planet orbits, the eclipse of one moon by another, both orbiting around a given planet, would look like one moon passing in front of the other. Dependent upon their relative size, you might see varying degrees of the more distant moon’s disk appearing from behind the nearer moon during an eclipse. Note that you could also get an eclipse of both moons when they both pass through the line of sight between the star and parent planet (like an eclipse on Earth but including a second more distant moon). This would look similar to a lunar eclipse on Earth, but with the second moon involved.

-- Jeff Mangum

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