Why are total solar eclipses so rare?

Why are total solar eclipses so rare?

The Economist,

The Great North American eclipse is coming on April 8th

Total solar eclipses have awed people since time out of mind. The first record of one, preserved on a clay tablet found at Ugarit, now in Syria, is believed from its age and location to describe either an eclipse that happened in 1375bc or one in 1223bc. Legendary explanations for eclipses include the Sun being eaten by dogs, frogs or dragons. The reality is more prosaic. Eclipses are caused by the Moon moving between Sun and Earth in a way that casts a shadow on part of Earth's surface. 

Solar eclipses are a special case of phenomena called transits and occultations, in which an intervening heavenly body stops light from a star reaching an observer. If the obscuring orb appears smaller in the sky than the star, the result is called a transit and looks like a dark spot crossing the star's surface (in the solar system Mercury and Venus transit the Sun, from Earth's point of view, from time to time). If the obscuring object appears larger than the star, the star disappears completely—an occultation.

source

(*) https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2024/04/02/why-are-total-solar-eclipses-so-rare