[tiffanyh]

Random Factoid: it's extremely rare but the reason why the moon appears the same size as the sun is that the sun is 400x wider than the moon, but also 400x farther from the earth than the moon is.

Our moon holds so many mysteries. Just the very fact that such a large object can be so close in proximity to us while also orbiting is mind boggling.

https://astronomy.com/magazine/ask-astro/2000/10/why-is-the-...

[implements]

Random other factoid: The diameter of the Moon is less than the width of Australia at its widest part.

[divbzero]

I’ve always found this to be a curious coincidence, that the Sun’s corona remains visible during total solar eclipses because the Moon blocks out the Sun just so.

But the really fun part is described in the link above:

> Tidal interactions cause the Moon to spiral about one inch per year away from Earth. In the distant past, the Moon was close enough to Earth so that it could block the Sun's entire disk and then some. Our prehuman ancestors would not have witnessed the beautiful coronal displays that we now enjoy. And about 50 million years from now, the Moon will be far enough away so that our descendants will only see annular eclipses.

[closewith]

That seems to be actually be true, not a factoid?

[vlovich123]

American heritage dictionary:

factoid

făk′toid

noun

1. A piece of unverified or inaccurate information that is presented in the press as factual, often as part of a publicity effort, and that is then accepted as true because of frequent repetition.

2. A brief, somewhat interesting fact.

3. An inaccurate statement or statistic believed to be true because of broad repetition, especially if cited in the media.

I assume the definition used here is #2. I’m actually surprised by 1 and 3. I have never heard it used in that context and it’s strange that one word would have 2 fairly contradictory interpretations.

[closewith]

That is interesting! I've never come across the second definition before. Wikipedia suggests that usage become common following CNN misusing the original Norman Mailer meaning during broadcasts in the eighties.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factoid

[athorax]

Now that is an interesting factoid!