Astronomy of To-day: A Popular Introduction in Non-Technical LanguageDolmage, Cecil Goodrich Julius
Science
Astronomy of To-day: A Popular Introduction in Non-Technical Language
Dolmage, Cecil Goodrich Julius
Astronomy
Several of the older historians speak of a "fearful eclipse" as having
taken place on the morning of the Battle of Crecy, 1346. Lingard, for
instance, in his _History of England_, has as follows:--
"Never, perhaps, were preparations for battle made under circumstances
so truly awful. On that very day the sun suffered a partial eclipse:
birds, in clouds, the precursors of a storm, flew screaming over the two
armies, and the rain fell in torrents, accompanied by incessant thunder
and lightning. About five in the afternoon the weather cleared up; the
sun in full splendour darted his rays in the eyes of the enemy."
Calculations, however, show that no eclipse of the sun took place in
Europe during that year. This error is found to have arisen from the
mistranslation of an obsolete French word _esclistre_ (lightning), which
is employed by Froissart in his description of the battle.
In 1598 an eclipse was total over Scotland and part of North Germany. It
was observed at Torgau by Jessenius, an Hungarian physician, who noticed
a bright light around the moon during the time of totality. This is said
to be the first reference to the corona since that of Plutarch, to which
we have already drawn attention.
Mention of Scotland recalls the fact that an unusual number of eclipses
happen to have been visible in that country, and the occult bent natural
to the Scottish character has traditionalised a few of them in such
terms as the "Black Hour" (an eclipse of 1433), "Black Saturday" (the
eclipse of 1598 which has been alluded to above), and "Mirk Monday"
(1652). The track of the last-named also passed over Carrickfergus in
Ireland, where it was observed by a certain Dr. Wybord, in whose account
the term "corona" is first employed. This eclipse is the last which has
been total in Scotland, and it is calculated that there will not be
another eclipse seen as total there until the twenty-second century.
An eclipse of the sun which took place on May 30, 1612, is recorded as
having been seen "through a tube." This probably refers to the then
recent invention--the telescope.
The eclipses which we have been describing are chiefly interesting from
an historical point of view. The old mystery and confusion to the
beholders seem to have lingered even into comparatively enlightened
times, for we see how late it is before the corona attracts definite
attention for the sake of itself alone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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