How do you predict an eclipse?
October 1st 2007 01:14
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Total eclipse of the Moon
How do you predict an eclipse?
I have often wondered how astronomers could predict eclipse of the Sun and Moon with great accuracy without the aid of modern technology.
Delving back into history I encountered numerous references to the ancient Greeks, Babylonians, and the Chaldeans and even the Maya who had devised a mathematical formula in order to predict the alignment of the stars Moon and planets at any given time during the year.
Halley was also was a master at using the ‘SAROS’ ,the SAROS is the period of 18 years plus ten or eleven days over which eclipses recurred a tool already known to the ancient civilizations but the understanding had since been lost and forgotten until Halley used the formula in his predictions.
In today’s world we take we accept Solar and Lunar predictions with relative ease we don’t tend to think about the ins and outs of how predictions are made, but every now and then we should spare a thought of the remarkable power of the human mind.
Would you like to see some beautiful cosmic images ?Read my other blog
The next TOTAL eclipse of the Moon occurs during the morning of Thursday, February 21/22, 2008. The entire event is visible from South America and most of North America as well as Western Europe, Africa, and western Asia. Unfortunately the eclipse will not be visable in Australia we may see a somwhat partial eclipes around 4;30 am, we will have to wait untill Feb 2009.
Total eclipse of the Moon- NASA photo
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