Conjunction, Unfolded: Why a New Moon Isn’t an Eclipse

From outside · two tilted paths

From Earth · the sky around the Sun (±8°)

How far above or below the Sun the Moon passes, at each new Moon

Try it · the gap astrology counts vs. the gap the sky shows

Gap along the road (the orb)

Gap above / below the road

Astrological orb

Real distance in the sky

In Moon-widths

1

A new Moon is a conjunction, but rarely an eclipse

Every month the Sun and Moon share a zodiac degree. Because the Moon’s orbit is tilted about 5°, it usually passes above or below the Sun. Eclipses only happen in the two short seasons each year when the Sun sits near a node.

2

“0° orb” is a shadow of a 3D sky

Zodiac longitude flattens the sky onto one line. Two bodies at the same degree can still be many Moon-widths apart, because the number that says how far above or below the road they are gets set aside.