The total solar eclipse and perfect 'coincidences'

The total solar eclipse that awed Americans is one of the great perfect "coincidences" of the solar system. In this rare and wonderful event, those who are in the path of the eclipse can see the sun turned into a kind of black circle, crowned with a bright halo. It happens because the moon is placed in just the right spot so that for a few minutes, in the middle of the day, everything is dark. The crown of the sun is visible, along with the stars and the planets.

But these exciting and strange minutes are the product of a "coincidence" that makes even the staunchest atheists doubt. Gene Weingarten wrote in The Washington Post: “I am a devout atheist but can’t explain why the moon is exactly the right size, and gets positioned so precisely between the earth and the sun, that total solar eclipses are perfect. It bothers me.”

The total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth. That is the first "coincidence." The sun is approximately 400 times larger than the moon but, "coincidentally," the sun is also approximately 400 times further away than the moon, which allows them to appear exactly the same size on this rare occasion, and for the moon to cover the sun but allow those on Earth to see the bright ring around the moon, making the eclipse so spectacular and not just a moment of complete darkness.

This means that if the moon were just a little smaller, or orbited a few miles farther from Earth, it would never completely cover the sun. And if it were a little bigger, or closer to our planet. It would block the solar corona, and we would be unable to see the beautiful image that Americans enjoyed with the moon right in the center, at the perfect size, and crowned with the halo of light.

But as if all that were not enough, we must keep in mind that there are more than 200 confirmed moons orbiting the planets in our solar system, and only one, ours, is the perfect size and is at the correct distance so that on these rare occasions, it covers the sun and allows us to see its corona, which we normally do not see due to the power of its light. The only place where solar eclipses take place is on Earth, which is also the only place where, thanks to "coincidences," there are humans to witness such a spectacle.

For those who do not believe in God, these types of perfect "coincidences" generate doubt or annoyance, like in the case of Weingarten, but for those of us who are certain that God exists, these events are further confirmation that only an all-powerful God can have created so much perfection. And the truth is that to be precise, everything in this world is full of amazing "coincidences" or, rather, the greatness of God. Not only is it a solar eclipse, if the sun were further from the earth, or closer, there would be no life. We are at the perfect distance for there to be enough heat for human life and the existence of nature.

The same goes for gravity, if it were a little stronger, the universe would collapse, but if gravity were a little less strong, the universe would break apart and there would be no stars or planets. That is why for those of us who believe in God, every moment of life, as well as the wonders of the universe, including eclipses, are constant proof of the existence of a supreme being.