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Solar Eclipse Countdown Day 1: Historical Eclipses

 I've been asked to cross-post my eclipse emails to the Savio community here. Apparently, some students ignore emails from the school.


Today’s topic is: Historical Eclipses (4/2/24)


People living in the pre-industrial era were much more aware of the sky than the average person is today. Any change in the night sky was readily apparent, so a change in the sun was even more so. These were often interpreted as bad omens. Here are a few famous eclipse events from history:


Loughcrew Eclipse (November 30, 3340 BC)

Possibly the oldest recorded eclipse as documented in the Loughcrew Megalithic Monument in Ireland. The drawings could be something else.


Assyrian Eclipse (June 15, 763 BC)

The well documented date of this eclipse gives us a pretty accurate timeline of other events in ancient Near East history. The Assyrians had an interesting (gruesome) tradition relating to eclipses. Eclipses were interpreted as an omen of the king’s death. So, they would crown a “substitute king” while the actual king went into hiding for a while. After a month or two, the substitute would be killed, fulfilling the prophecy and the actual king would resume his rule.


Eclipse of Thales (May 28, 585 BC)

According to Herodotus, Thales of Miletus accurately predicted the occurrence of this eclipse. If so, he is the first person known to do so. In any event, the eclipse halted a battle and led to a peace treaty between the Medes and Lydians.


King Henry’s Eclipse (August 2, 1133)

This eclipse was considered by many medieval writers to be a sign of the troubles to come. It has often been seen a foretelling of the demise of King Henry I; however, he didn’t die until 1135. He did move the court to Normandy around the time of the eclipse which eventually led to the period called The Anarchy.


Einstein’s Eclipse (May 29, 1919)

Astronomer Arthur Eddington (and others) provided a demonstration of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity (published in 1915) during an eclipse. Certain stars that could be seen near the sun during the eclipse seemed slightly out of position, due to their light being bent by the Sun’s gravity. 


Crucifixion Eclipse

The synoptic Gospels refer to “darkness” during the crucifixion of Jesus. This has traditionally been interpreted as an eclipse (although there’s little data to go off of. See Matthew 27:45). If the darkness was caused by an eclipse, it was clearly a miraculous event and not natural. Eclipses happen during a new moon, not a full moon. Also, the longest that a naturally occurring total eclipse can last is around seven and a half minutes, well short of the three hours referred to in the Gospels.


Countdown:

  • 6 Days to Eclipse

  • Eclipse Start: 12:17 

  • Totality Start: 1:35

  • Totality End: 1:39

  • Eclipse End: 2:58

  • Current Forecast: Mostly* cloudy with storms 😞


*Don’t give up hope! To paraphrase the Princess Bride: There’s a big difference between mostly cloudy and all cloudy. 


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