<p>Of course it’s a silly question as stated and you clearly know it. But such things (with bodies other than the sun earth and moon) do exist, where one object passes in front of another from our point of view blocking our view.</p>
<p>They go by the generic name of “occultation”. Solar eclipses are occultation too (the moon is said to be occulting the sun) but they are rarely described with that word.</p>
<p>Lunar eclipses are not occultation (from the point of view of the earth) because it’s “us” blocking the sun from the moon, but our own view is not being blocked. However it would be valid for an astronaut on the face of the moon during a lunar eclipse to say that the earth occulted the sun.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-28T18:48:08.203Z
Skimming the associated wikipedia article for context, this would then be a case of the Sun occulting the Moon, ie a solar occultation. From the perspective of Earth, which is a normal assumption here. Neato, thanks
MSGhero
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-28T18:39:14.197Z
2021-03-28T20:19:04.227Z
2021-03-28T20:19:04.227Z
Euro Micelli
<p>The Sun won't pass between the Earth and the Moon in the near future, because the Sun is so much further away from the Earth, than the Moon.  When the three are nearly co-linear, either the Earth blocks sunlight to the Moon (a lunar eclipse), or the Moon blocks sunlight to the Earth (a solar eclipse).  But just because this is impossible in the near future, doesn't mean it is impossible forever!</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08096" rel="noreferrer">Gastineau and Laskar</a> have long term orbital models in which the orbit of Venus expands to reach the Earth. Their paper in Nature is unfortunately behind a paywall, but there is a nice article <a href="https://perso.imcce.fr/jacques-laskar/obs-press-colli/colli.en.shtml" rel="noreferrer">here</a>, that includes a diagram for a potential orbital scenario of the Solar System in the future.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/QEnxJ.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/QEnxJ.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Here, the green orbit is Earth's path and the blue orbit is Venus's path.  I used this as a taking off point for my answer and ran a simulation in which Venus passes close to the Moon and causes the Moon to achieve escape velocity from the Earth.  In it's new orbital path, the Moon has a slower orbital period than the Earth, and in less than 10 years is on the opposite side of the Sun from the Earth.  As mentioned in the other answer, this would most likely be known as a Solar Occultation, but in the remote possibility that a sentient species was still alive, I imagine they would have a special term for this extraordinary event!</p>
<p><div class="youtube-embed"><div>
                <iframe width="640px" height="395px" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fiuAXBplTKw?start=0"></iframe>
            </div></div></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-29T02:28:34.283Z
Hopefully StackExchange survives a couple Gyr for future journalists to cite this thread! This software looks cool, and I appreciate your time sim-ing it
MSGhero
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-29T11:11:54.720Z
Out of curiosity, what is the software you used to run this simulation? Do you have the Gastineau & Laskar code, or is it something else? What's your numerical integration scheme? Is it symplectic?
AtmosphericPrisonEscape
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-29T15:39:59.017Z
@AtmosphericPrisonEscape The software I used is called Universe Sandbox.  I don't have the original Gastineau/Laskar code, but rather used their analysis as a jumping off point.  I don't think Universe Sandbox would have the necessary fidelity for their full long term Monte Carlo runs. I think Universe Sandbox just uses patched conics for orbital propagation, but a deeper discussion can be found here: https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/16395/is-universe-sandbox-2-realistic. Cheers!
Connor Garcia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-28T21:53:39.060Z
2021-03-28T21:53:39.060Z
Connor Garcia
<p>If you think outside the Earth-Moon system, but look at the planetary system as-is now, the planets experience just that what you refer to when looking from Earth. This phenomenon is commonly called <strong>conjunction</strong>, referring the apparent places of Sun and the planet falling (nearly) into the same place on the celestial sphere (we have to exclude the 'inferior conjunction' for the inner planets where we have Earth-planet-Sun aligned and we only see the dark side of the inner planet; for those we talk about the 'superior conjunction. For the outer planets there can be only one conjuction, thus no distinction is made).</p>
<p>Obviously anything in conjunction is actually either hidden directly behind the Sun, or it is showing the full disc very near the Sun (thus quite bright, but hardly or not seen at all due to the tremendous brightness difference when compared to the Sun adjacent to it).</p>
<p>This said, this phenomenon only makes sense for bodies which orbit the Sun separately as otherwise the Sun will never be between those (and that's even true for any hypothetical worlds one might create). If a star is somewhere on the line between two objects, those two objects MUST be orbiting the star separately and are never a planet-moon system. Any argument with reference to mass also fails as then we would be talking about multi-stellar system, if the masses of the orbiting objects influenced the orbit of the star more than the star them. For multi-stellar system one talks of <strong>occultation</strong> when one star seemingly hides behind the other.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-29T09:51:41.917Z
2021-03-29T09:58:37.993Z
2021-03-29T09:58:37.993Z
planetmaker
<p>The alignment of three or more astronomical bodies is referred to as a <em><strong>syzygy</strong></em>, from the Greek &quot;suzugos&quot;, meaning &quot;yoked together&quot;.  Parenthetically, it is also a favorite word for crossword puzzles (helpful hint).</p>
<p><a href="https://creative.colorado.edu/%7Etopo7995/web/lab/wiki.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://creative.colorado.edu/~topo7995/web/lab/wiki.html</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-29T22:17:11.647Z
2021-03-29T22:17:11.647Z
JohnHunt
<p>I understand we would all die and this is a common “think about your question before you ask it” thing in high school, but what would we call an eclipse where the Sun gets in between Earth and the Moon?</p>
<p>Solar eclipse comes from Latin <em>solaris</em>, lunar from <em>lunaris</em>, and Terran eclipse (<em>terra</em>) seems like it’s already one of those two from the Moon’s perspective.</p>
<p>Orbital? Terrar? Orbar? Tellar?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-28T18:34:37.900Z
In your own words, think about your question before you ask it. The Sun cannot get between the Earth and the Moon.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-28T18:51:33.197Z
Things can generally move in front of other things from the perspective of a third thing, and we can give those events names. It seems like "eclipse" is generally reserved for things moving into the shadow of another thing. See the answer I chose.
MSGhero
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-28T19:47:38.477Z
When the Sun gets between the Earth and the Moon, we call it "The Sun", because the Earth and the Moon are inside it and rapidly turning to plasma.
notovny
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-28T22:16:37.637Z
Welcome to astronomy stack exchange!  I think this is quite a *unique* question, and one I have never heard before.  I had to think about it quite a lot before posting an answer below.  Please don't be discouraged by down-votes or votes to close.
Connor Garcia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-29T00:38:35.230Z
`+1` for being brave and asking a question that makes folks stop and think and then write two good, thoughtful answers! If the Moon was behind the Sun, it wouldn't be orbiting the Earth anymore. In that case we might need to call it something else, because it wouldn't be a proper moon of Earth anymore.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-29T00:39:44.033Z
voting to **leave open** because nobody benefits from blocking folks from posting answers to this question.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-29T03:20:13.823Z
@uhoh, questioners are expected to do some minimal amount of research before asking a question. This question doesn't make sense at all as the distance between the Earth and the Moon is a bit over half of the Sun's radius, which a bare minimum of research could have found. BTW, I have not yet voted to close, but I am tempted.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-29T03:34:11.790Z
@DavidHammen Given that the *naming* question has been answered clearly and that I acknowledged that I understand how far away the Sun is compared to the Moon in the OP, I don't think your comments are contributing to the discussion. The two answers so far are very good and not closed-minded, so feel free to vote to close if you feel that's appropriate for a valid question about naming celestial phenomena.
MSGhero
<solar-eclipse><lunar-eclipse><naming>
What’s an Earth-Sun-Moon eclipse called?
MSGhero
# What’s an Earth-Sun-Moon eclipse called?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-03-28)

I understand we would all die and this is a common “think about your question before you ask it” thing in high school, but what would we call an eclipse where the Sun gets in between Earth and the Moon?

Solar eclipse comes from Latin *solaris*, lunar from *lunaris*, and Terran eclipse (*terra*) seems like it’s already one of those two from the Moon’s perspective.

Orbital? Terrar? Orbar? Tellar?

**Tags:** solar-eclipse, lunar-eclipse, naming
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: In your own words, think about your question before you ask it. The Sun cannot get between the Earth and the Moon.  
> **username_0**: Things can generally move in front of other things from the perspective of a third thing, and we can give those events names. It seems like "eclipse" is generally reserved for things moving into the shadow of another thing. See the answer I chose.  
> **username_2**: When the Sun gets between the Earth and the Moon, we call it "The Sun", because the Earth and the Moon are inside it and rapidly turning to plasma.  
> **username_3**: Welcome to astronomy stack exchange!  I think this is quite a *unique* question, and one I have never heard before.  I had to think about it quite a lot before posting an answer below.  Please don't be discouraged by down-votes or votes to close.  
> **username_4**: `+1` for being brave and asking a question that makes folks stop and think and then write two good, thoughtful answers! If the Moon was behind the Sun, it wouldn't be orbiting the Earth anymore. In that case we might need to call it something else, because it wouldn't be a proper moon of Earth anymore.  
> **username_4**: voting to **leave open** because nobody benefits from blocking folks from posting answers to this question.  
> **username_1**: @uhoh, questioners are expected to do some minimal amount of research before asking a question. This question doesn't make sense at all as the distance between the Earth and the Moon is a bit over half of the Sun's radius, which a bare minimum of research could have found. BTW, I have not yet voted to close, but I am tempted.  
> **username_0**: @DavidHammen Given that the *naming* question has been answered clearly and that I acknowledged that I understand how far away the Sun is compared to the Moon in the OP, I don't think your comments are contributing to the discussion. The two answers so far are very good and not closed-minded, so feel free to vote to close if you feel that's appropriate for a valid question about naming celestial phenomena.  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2021-03-28. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Of course it’s a silly question as stated and you clearly know it. But such things (with bodies other than the sun earth and moon) do exist, where one object passes in front of another from our point of view blocking our view.

They go by the generic name of “occultation”. Solar eclipses are occultation too (the moon is said to be occulting the sun) but they are rarely described with that word.

Lunar eclipses are not occultation (from the point of view of the earth) because it’s “us” blocking the sun from the moon, but our own view is not being blocked. However it would be valid for an astronaut on the face of the moon during a lunar eclipse to say that the earth occulted the sun.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Skimming the associated wikipedia article for context, this would then be a case of the Sun occulting the Moon, ie a solar occultation. From the perspective of Earth, which is a normal assumption here. Neato, thanks  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-03-28. Score: 6

The Sun won't pass between the Earth and the Moon in the near future, because the Sun is so much further away from the Earth, than the Moon. When the three are nearly co-linear, either the Earth blocks sunlight to the Moon (a lunar eclipse), or the Moon blocks sunlight to the Earth (a solar eclipse). But just because this is impossible in the near future, doesn't mean it is impossible forever!

[Gastineau and Laskar](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08096) have long term orbital models in which the orbit of Venus expands to reach the Earth. Their paper in Nature is unfortunately behind a paywall, but there is a nice article [here](https://perso.imcce.fr/jacques-laskar/obs-press-colli/colli.en.shtml), that includes a diagram for a potential orbital scenario of the Solar System in the future.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/QEnxJ.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/QEnxJ.png)

Here, the green orbit is Earth's path and the blue orbit is Venus's path. I used this as a taking off point for my answer and ran a simulation in which Venus passes close to the Moon and causes the Moon to achieve escape velocity from the Earth. In it's new orbital path, the Moon has a slower orbital period than the Earth, and in less than 10 years is on the opposite side of the Sun from the Earth. As mentioned in the other answer, this would most likely be known as a Solar Occultation, but in the remote possibility that a sentient species was still alive, I imagine they would have a special term for this extraordinary event!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Hopefully StackExchange survives a couple Gyr for future journalists to cite this thread! This software looks cool, and I appreciate your time sim-ing it  
> **username_6**: Out of curiosity, what is the software you used to run this simulation? Do you have the Gastineau & Laskar code, or is it something else? What's your numerical integration scheme? Is it symplectic?  
> **username_3**: @AtmosphericPrisonEscape The software I used is called Universe Sandbox.  I don't have the original Gastineau/Laskar code, but rather used their analysis as a jumping off point.  I don't think Universe Sandbox would have the necessary fidelity for their full long term Monte Carlo runs. I think Universe Sandbox just uses patched conics for orbital propagation, but a deeper discussion can be found here: https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/16395/is-universe-sandbox-2-realistic. Cheers!  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2021-03-29. Score: 1

If you think outside the Earth-Moon system, but look at the planetary system as-is now, the planets experience just that what you refer to when looking from Earth. This phenomenon is commonly called **conjunction**, referring the apparent places of Sun and the planet falling (nearly) into the same place on the celestial sphere (we have to exclude the 'inferior conjunction' for the inner planets where we have Earth-planet-Sun aligned and we only see the dark side of the inner planet; for those we talk about the 'superior conjunction. For the outer planets there can be only one conjuction, thus no distinction is made).

Obviously anything in conjunction is actually either hidden directly behind the Sun, or it is showing the full disc very near the Sun (thus quite bright, but hardly or not seen at all due to the tremendous brightness difference when compared to the Sun adjacent to it).

This said, this phenomenon only makes sense for bodies which orbit the Sun separately as otherwise the Sun will never be between those (and that's even true for any hypothetical worlds one might create). If a star is somewhere on the line between two objects, those two objects MUST be orbiting the star separately and are never a planet-moon system. Any argument with reference to mass also fails as then we would be talking about multi-stellar system, if the masses of the orbiting objects influenced the orbit of the star more than the star them. For multi-stellar system one talks of **occultation** when one star seemingly hides behind the other.


---

### Answer by username_8 on 2021-03-29. Score: 0

The alignment of three or more astronomical bodies is referred to as a ***syzygy***, from the Greek "suzugos", meaning "yoked together". Parenthetically, it is also a favorite word for crossword puzzles (helpful hint).

[https://creative.colorado.edu/~topo7995/web/lab/wiki.html](https://creative.colorado.edu/%7Etopo7995/web/lab/wiki.html)


---

