Related papers: Eclipses in the Aztec Codices
The mysterious lines in the desert of Nazca in southern Peru received many attempts at an explanation. We discuss the possibility that their origin is based on solar eclipses which could have evoked some kind of "reaction" by the…
Historical records of total solar eclipses provide vital information for computing the rotation of the Earth and understanding its long-term variations by providing data from the time before the modern measurements. While eclipses recorded…
For many decades scholars converse how to correctly include the Old Babylonian Empire into the absolute timeline of history. A cuneiform text from the series Enuma Anu Enlil (EAE #20) reports on the destruction of Babylon after a lunar and…
The search of a rational explanation of eclipses pervades the beginnings of philosophical and scientific thought. Within this intellectual frame, the knowledge of the "saros cycle" (a cycle of 18 years, 10 or 11 days and 1/3 of a day that…
A dozen of high-magnitude solar eclipses accumulated near New Zealand in the 15th century AD when the Maori inhabited the two main islands. Taking today's capital Wellington as the point of reference, we counted ten events with magnitude…
The aim of this project is to review and expand upon the model proposed by Father Jose Domingo Duquesne de la Madrid (1745-1821) regarding the calendar of the ancient Muisca culture of the central Colombia. This model was dismissed by…
In 1883, on the 12th and 13th of August, Mexican astronomer Jose A. y Bonilla observed several objects passing in front of the solar disk. In 1886 in the L'Astronomie magazine, he reported his observations without providing a hypothesis…
This article reviews atmospheric changes associated with 44 solar eclipses, beginning with the first quantitative results available, from 1834 (earlier qualitative, accounts also exist). Eclipse meteorology attracted relatively few…
We explore 50 Australian Aboriginal accounts of lunar and solar eclipses to determine how Aboriginal groups understood this phenomenon. We summarise the literature on Aboriginal references to eclipses, showing that many Aboriginal groups…
A major focus of the archaeoastronomical research conducted around the world focuses on understanding how ancient cultures observed sunrise and sunset points along the horizon, particularly at the solstices and equinoxes. Scholars argue…
According to classical tradition, Thales of Miletus predicted the total solar eclipse that took place on 28 May 585 BCE. Even if some authors have flatly denied the possibility of such a prediction, others have struggled to find cycles…
The so-called Miccinelli documents are a set of documents which were written by Jesuit scholars in Peru within the first half of the 17th century. Among such documents, one contains the depiction of a Quipu, that is, a device made out of…
We present a review on the renowned solar eclipse in the Chinese book "Shujing" describing the oldest account of this kind. After balancing the arguments on the time, place, and the celestial stage, we offer a new scenario. The path of…
Astronomical observations were used as a marker for time and the Calendar from ancient times. A more subtle calibration of epochs is thrown up by an observation of the position of the solstices and equinoxes, because these points shift in…
The Maya were known for their astronomical proficiency. This is demonstrated in the Mayan codices where ritual practices were related to astronomical events/predictions. Whereas Mayan mathematics were based on a vigesimal system, they used…
The total lunar eclipse on March 14, 2025 UT occurs nearly exactly 521 years (one Hypersaros) after a similar eclipse on March 1, 1504 UT that is renowned for its importance to the voyage of Columbus to Jamaica. Eclipses separated by a…
Solar eclipses play an important role in the history of astronomy because their observation allowed astrophysics to expand. The eclipse of August 30th, 1905 is particularly interesting since the line of totality passes through Spain and…
We suggest an earlier date for the accession of the pharaoh Akhenaten of the New Kingdom in Egypt. His first year of reign would be placed in 1382 BCE. This conjecture is based on the possible witness of three annular eclipses of the sun…
People have probably been watching the sky since the beginning of human history. Observers in pre-telescopic ages recorded anomalous events and these astronomical records in the historical documents provide uniquely valuable information for…
The hybrid eclipse of November 3rd, 2013 was observed as partial with a magnitude equal to 0.126 from Badajoz (38^\circ 53' N, 6^\circ 58' W). The evolution of the Total Ozone Column (TOC) values during 4 hours was monitored using a Solar…