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When Did The First Annular Eclipse Occur?

-- Zeke | May 19, 2023

Question:

BIllions of years ago, I understand the Moon was too close to Earth to allow for annular solar eclipses, but the space between the two has grown to the point where they are happening now. When was Earth’s first annular solar eclipse?

-- Zeke

Answer:

There is in fact a really thorough answer to this question posted to the astronomy stack exchange. Although the answer is necessarily approximate due to the potential for a changing rate of separation between the Earth and the Moon in the past, a reasonable estimate would be about 1.6 billion years ago.

-- Jeff Mangum

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