Q&A: Eclipse vs. occultation?

Question by 247FMC: Eclipse vs. occultation?
If we would have been defining the words eclipse and occultation a few million years ago, when the moon was a little closer to us, and therefore able to make more total solar eclipses and fewer annular ones, would we have called solar eclipses occultations instead?

(semantics, i know)
p.s. yahoo suggested i post this question in the automotives section. would i get better ansewrs from car nuts?


Best answer:
Answer by bikenbeer2000I guess you're right. A large moon covering a small sun might be considered more like a 'proper' occultation. Maybe when the moon has moved far enough away, an annular eclipse will be termed a transit.
Re: Automotives section. I've heard of a Mitsubishi Eclipse, but not a Mitsubishi Occultation.

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