If you caught a brief glimpse of the Sun during the eclipse, you’re not alone.
Wonderful Precision
The level of precision in astronomical data is amazing.
Mars Transit
About a year ago Curiosity happened to be in the path of an eclipse. So Curiosity was directed to take a series of photographs of the Sun. You can see the result here. The shadow moving across the Sun is Phobos, and you can see it pass in real time. Phobos is must smaller than our Moon, only about 27 …
Greatest Show on Earth
The diameter of the Sun is about 400 times larger than the diameter of the Moon. The Moon is about 389 times closer to the Earth than the Sun. This means that the size of the Sun and Moon in the sky are about the same, and that happy coincidence is what allows us to have the greatest show on Earth: the solar eclipse.