What would happen if it stayed forever?
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00:00 The last time the world witnessed
00:07 a total solar eclipse was in 2017,
00:10 and its presence delighted
00:13 enthusiastic sky watchers.
00:15 "This is absolutely insane."
00:19 But what if, instead of a rare phenomenon,
00:24 a total solar eclipse
00:26 became an everyday thing?
00:30 Would you live in complete darkness?
00:34 When does a total solar eclipse occur?
00:39 And what would happen to the Moon?
00:43 This is WHAT IF,
00:45 and here's what would happen
00:46 if there were a permanent solar eclipse.
00:50 A dragon devouring the Sun.
00:54 A giant puma demon.
00:56 A pair of sky wolves.
00:59 Throughout history and across cultures,
01:02 an eclipse has been interpreted
01:04 as a perplexing or fearful event.
01:07 Even the 2017 total eclipse
01:10 raised claims of impending apocalypse
01:13 by evangelist groups in the United States.
01:17 But what if the next eclipse didn't end?
01:22 In this scenario,
01:24 we're talking about a total solar eclipse,
01:26 which only happens under very specific circumstances.
01:31 First, it has to be a new Moon phase.
01:35 Second, the Moon has to be
01:37 at its closest position to Earth,
01:40 also called perigee.
01:43 And third, the Moon has to be
01:46 directly in front of the Sun.
01:48 "It's like a sunset all the way around me."
01:52 This rare planetary alignment
01:54 would suddenly become a normal occurrence.
01:58 But don't worry,
01:59 you wouldn't live in the Moon's shadow all the time.
02:03 There are two parts to the Moon's shadow.
02:06 The umbra is the dark center,
02:08 and the penumbra is the outside edge,
02:11 where only part of the Sun is blocked by the Moon.
02:15 The umbra has a diameter of 267 km (1,000 mi),
02:20 which is about the size of the state of West Virginia
02:23 in the United States.
02:26 Because of the Earth's axis,
02:28 this large shadow would sweep
02:30 across different parts of the globe
02:32 during different seasons.
02:34 The rest of the planet would be in the penumbra.
02:38 You'd still get sunlight,
02:39 just not as much as you used to.
02:42 And life would certainly be a little dimmer.
02:45 Existence on Earth is closely tied
02:48 to the transition of day to night.
02:51 A total solar eclipse would disrupt this pattern
02:54 and wreak havoc on other natural cycles.
02:57 Under the umbra,
02:58 the temperature would drop about 5°C (10°F).
03:02 Even minimal fluctuations have significant impact.
03:05 Temperature changes and lack of sunshine
03:07 are not great for agriculture,
03:10 so we would have to get creative
03:11 with growing our crops
03:13 in this new cycle of light and dark.
03:16 We would also see an increase
03:18 in seasonal affective disorder, or SAD.
03:22 This subtype of depression
03:25 occurs during long winter months
03:27 in high latitudes with lack of sunshine.
03:31 You'd probably feel some of the same hopelessness
03:34 and loss of energy under the Moon's shadow.
03:38 Though we'd have to come up with a new diagnosis,
03:41 maybe eclipse affective disorder.
03:44 In a typical total solar eclipse,
03:47 the umbra moves across the globe
03:49 from west to east,
03:51 lasting only about 7.5 minutes.
03:54 This is because the Moon rotates around the Earth,
03:58 making a static eclipse impossible.
04:02 So the only way we could see a permanent solar eclipse
04:06 is if the Moon stopped rotating around the Earth.
04:10 Without its own trajectory,
04:12 the Moon wouldn't be able to resist
04:14 the gravitational pull from Earth,
04:16 and would eventually destroy us.
04:22 If that were the case,
04:23 then a total eclipse
04:25 really would be a doomsday warning.
04:28 Observing a total solar eclipse
04:30 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
04:33 Let's hope it stays the marvel it is.
04:37 Life on Earth relies on the predictable pattern
04:40 of the Sun and the Moon,
04:42 and we would be in big trouble
04:44 if our orderly cosmos changed.
04:48 If planet Earth screeched to a halt
04:50 and stopped orbiting around the Sun,
04:53 what then?
04:55 Well, that's a story for another WHAT IF.
05:00 [music]