A Solar Eclipse occurs when the moon crosses between the Sun and the Earth in a way in which the moon casts a shadow onto the Earth. This phenomenon has been occurring for as long as we can tell, and has been observed as early as 3340 BCE. Many civilizations have come and gone, studying these eclipses, trying to predict them, and even building their own lore around them. Each of these civilizations came up with different ways to predict the next eclipse. Some were able to successfully predict them, but few were able to do so consistently. These ancient civilizations often relied of the Saros Cycle, which is mostly accurate, but also only tells when the eclipse will happen, not where it will be visible from (Seeds Foundations of Astronomy …show more content…
Other civilizations before this tried to predict eclipses for various reasons. By 2300 BCE, ancient Chinese astrologers, for example, paid close attention to solar eclipses because they believed that they could forecast the future of the Emperor and his health. The first prediction of an eclipse using previous eclipses and the Saros Cycle is credited to Thales of Miletus on May 28, 585 BC, but his methods for doing so did not survive and supposedly were never used reliably again. While these civilizations are the only two in which documented proof exists of an accurate eclipse prediction, a few others attempted to do so and contributed greatly to the science of the …show more content…
Today we have powerful computer programs that can tell us exactly when and where the next solar eclipse will be. The programming language Wolfram even has a “SolarEclipse” function built right into it which can tell you the date of the next solar eclipse, and whether it will be partial or total. While this might seem like a simple task, the program is doing a great amount of work behind the scenes. There isn’t just one algorithm that you can plug a number into that will give you the date of a solar eclipse. Calculating precisely when the next one will occur involves complex geometry and
In Astronomy, an eclipse is an event in which an object is covered by passing through another body or having another body pass through it and the viewer. In our American history, there have been numerous events that have happened in certain years that we will never forget. 1831 is an unknown year for most people because most think that it was a just another year and that nothing important happened. Louis P. Masur would say other wise in his book 1831 Year of Eclipse. Masur depicts an “eclipse” as a pivotal year in American history because there were many historical events that occurred.
Ancient Pueblo Indians had a great understanding of astronomy. All of the pueblos in the canyon were aligned to match the movements of the sun and moon. Also, they marked their complexes with daggers and spirals to keep up with the moon cycles and sun movements. The film explains that the moon moves north for nearly ten years and then south for about ten years. To fully understand this cycle of the moon, Pueblo people had to study it for years in order to build their Pueblos in relations to it. The sun however, was different because it set and rose in the same position. The concept of building structures in an astronomical pattern this complex cannot be found anywhere else.
The surest foundation for the origin of science in its practical form is to be found in the ìco–rdination and standardization of the knowledge of common sense and of industry.î[1] One of the first occurrences of this co–rdination can be traced back to 2500 BCE in the form of edicts from the ancient Babylonian rulers, who issued royal standards of length, weight and capacity. Non-Semitic Sumerians also laid down the elements of mathematics and geometry at that time, making use of fractions, decimals, circles and radial angles. But knowledge as we know it today was tightly woven with magical notions, and as both spread westward they instilled in European thought a reverence for ìspecial numbers, their connections to the gods and the application of geometrical diagrams to the prediction of the future.î[2] As well, the ancient Babylonians were fascinated by the heavens. They were the first to make a map of the stars and associate them with animals like the Ram, Crab and Scorpion, names that we still use to this day. They also realized the periodicity and reliability of astronomical movement and phenomena, and were soon able to predict many of them. Tablets have been found dating to the sixth century BCE that predicted the relative positions of the sun and moon, as well as forecasted the occurrences of eclipses.[3] Out of all this knowledge the Babylonians built up a fantastic system of astrology, through which the starsówhich were thought to fix and foretell the course of human affairsówould give up their secrets.
The Egyptians calendar was based on the celestial bodies to determine the passing of time. For thousands of years, there have been records of timekeeping in the different cultures of past times. The Egyptian calendar was first based on the moon's cycles, but then discovered the Sirius which rose every 365 days. The Egyptian calendar and this discovery have led this to be one of the earliest discoveries that began in about 3100 BC. In the Egyptian culture the moon, stars, sun and planet are very important to the discovery of timekeeping for the calendar.
After 3rd century BC, Eratosthenes calculation about Earth's circumference was used correctly in different locations such as Alexandria and syene (Aswan now) by simple geometry and the shadows cast. Eratosthenes's results undertaken in 1ST century by Posidonius, were corroborated in Alexandria and Rhodes by the comparison between remarks is excellent.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, astrological doctrines were part of the educated man’s picture of the universe and its workings. It was generally accepted that the four elements constituting the sublunary region (earth, air, fire & water) were kept in their state of ceaseless transformation by the movement of the heavenly bodies. The various planets transmit different quantities of the four physiological qualities of heat and cold, dryness and moisture. Therefore, astrology is less a separate discipline than an aspect of a generally accepted world picture. During the Renaissance, even more than in the Middle Ages, astrology pervaded all aspects of the intellectual framework in which men were educated.
The Mayans developed calendars, based on the timing of constellations and careful observations of the sun, moon and planets. The most popular calendar known as the Tzolkin had a 260-day count. This calendar was combined with a 365-day year known as the Haab'. These two calendars came together every 52 years, allowing them to foresee rainy, drought and disease outbreaks. Planet Venus was also a very important part of Mayan cosmology. The Mayans kept detailed recordings of the position of Venus throughout the year as it was associated with war. Wars were organized according to the Moons position, and warriors and leaders would be sacrificed during the dark of the night. With recording these details, they believed that one year had approximately 584 days, comparative to the sun.
prophecy. They also were able to predict planetary cycles, phases of the moon and Venus.
This coming Monday morning, a total eclipse of the sun will arc its way across out hemisphere, the last such eclipse in this century. Observers are reminded that staring into the partially eclipsed sun can cause blindness, warts, exhaustion, and hair growing in your palms. Weekend update suggests that you do not look at an eclipse until you are married.
Because the Sun is so influential, imperfections of the Sun, such as sunspots will continue to impact life on Earth. The discovery of sunspots is correlated with the invention of the telescope in 1608, although there are earlier recordings of sunspot like activity from China (Schaefer 35). Galileo was one of the astronomers who decided to publish his findings and use sunspots in one of his theories of Chief World Systems (Schaefer 35-6).
Astronomy is a very important field in science. Ancient Greece, China, and India all contributed to our everyday ideas and uses of astronomy. Ancient Greece was the most influential because the Indian’s based most of their astronomy off of Greece. The Greeks created calendars that were based off of the eclipse cycle, which they called by two different names, Hellenic Calendars and Lunisolar Calendars. Because of Ancient Greece, we now have calendars to keep us on track every day. The Greeks observed a celestial object passing through the eastern and western morning sky. After a long time of observations, they came to a realization that it was a planet and now that is the planet is well known as Venus. (Sarton, 75) Plato and Aristotle’s theories were incredible contributions on us today. Both of their theories were all about the behavior and life of the planets, such as their theory that the earth is spherical. (Sarton, 421). Ancient Greece als...
A solar storm refers to space weather involving solar activities like solar flares and coronal mass ejection. Although most solar storms may only have minor effect on the Earth, a particularly strong one like the 1859 Carrington Event is likely to cause damage of spacecraft and satellites, as well as radio and electricity blackout of large regions on the Earth. In the age that people’s lives are greatly dependent on electronic and telecommunication technologies, our modern civilization is under a constant threat posed by a hazardous solar storm. This paper will examine a few past solar storm observations and attempt to analyze the effects of the major components of solar storms on human technologies and people’s lives.
Since the first Egyptian farmers discovered the annual reappearance of Sirius just before dawn a few days before the yearly rising of the Nile, ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean have sought to explain the movements of the heavens as a sort of calendar to help guide them conduct earthly activities. Counting phases of the moon or observing the annual variations of day length could, after many years' collection of observations, serve as vital indicators for planting and harvesting times, safe or stormy season for sailing, or time to bring the flocks from winter to summer pastures. With our millennia of such observation behind us, we sometimes forget that seeing and recording anything less obvious than the rough position of sun or nightly change of moon phase requires inventing both accurate observation tools (a stone circle, a gnomon used to indicate the sun's shadow, a means to measure the position of stars in the sky) and a system of recording that could be understood by others. The ancient Greeks struggled with these problems too, using both native technology and inquiry, and drawing upon the large body of observations and theories gradually gleaned from their older neighbors across the sea, Egypt and Babylonia. Gradually moving from a system of gods and divine powers ordering the world to a system of elements, mathematics, and physical laws, the Greeks slowly adapted old ideas to fit into a less supernatural, hyper-rational universe.
One cultural group was especially important for their discoveries in astronomy, the Egyptians. They were especially important because they were one of the first groups of people to create an accurate calendar. This calendar was different than others because it was based off of the Sun and stars rather than the moon. The calendars purpose was to make correct estimates of when to plan...
Astronomy dates back to ancient times when peoples such as the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Chinese kept written records of astronomical events and occurrences. Today’s seven day week originates from the Babylonians’ seven important bodies in the night sky: the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. The ancient Egyptians used the stars to align their pyramids and many of their corridors in almost perfect north-south or east-west directions. The Chinese were experts at predicting solar eclipses. They believed that a solar eclipse was a dangerous warning. Chinese astronomers were executed if they failed to predict an eclipse.