Lunar Eclipses of Historical Interest

Fred Espenak

Both the popular and technical literature contain many references to lunar eclipses of the past. Some of these references are from ancient texts. In other cases, they are attempts to tie an eclipse with a historical event. The purpose of this web page is to present eclipse calculations for many such eclipses mentioned in the literature.

The inclusion of an historical event in the tables below does not imply validation of the historical event nor its connection with an eclipse. Some events may be either apocryphal or fictional, or an eclipse may be incorrectly associated with a particular event. The eclipse maps and calculations are simply presented so that they may be compared with references in the literature. It is left to the reader to evaluate whether the eclipse association is valid or not.

The following two tables list lunar eclipses identified with some historical event of note. When selected, each Calendar Date links to a diagram showing the Moon's path though Earth's shadows along with the Universal Times of each phase of the eclipse. Below the path doagram is a world map showing the region of visibility for each phase of the eclipse. These figures are described in greater detail in the Key to Lunar Eclipse Maps. Each figure is stored as a PDF file.

Sources and/or literary references to many of these eclipses may be found at:

Ancient and Early Medieval Eclipses in European Sources
Eclipse Quotations

The references at the bottom of this page are also recommended for information on lunar eclipses of historical interest. Those who are unfamiliar with the basic astronomy of lunar eclipses may want to visit Lunar Eclipses for Beginners. A complementary web page Solar Eclipses of Historical Interest is also available.

This web site is a work in progress. If you know of an historic eclipse of interest, please email the date and a little information or reference about the event to fred.espenak@nasa.gov. I will generate a map for the eclipse and add it to this page.

Footnotes

[1] Umbral magnitude is the fraction of the Moon's diameter obscured by Earth's Umbra. For partial eclipses, the umbral magnitude is always greater than 0 and less than 1. For total eclipses, the umbral magnitude is always greater than or equal to 1.

[2] Eclipse Duration is the duration of the partial eclipse. Total eclipses have a partial phase both before and after the total phase. Thus, two eclipse durations are listed for total eclipses. The first duration is for the entire eclipse (partial and total phases combined) and the second duration (in '[ ]') is for the total phase only.

[3] BCE and CE are abbreviations for "Before Common Era" and "Common Era," respectively. They are the secular equivalents to the BC and AD dating conventions. (See:Year Dating Conventions)

Notes

-0746 Feb 02 - Babylonian Eclipse

"Babylonian observation of a lunar eclipse in the first year of Nabonassar. This is the earliest eclipse record from Babylon, and it may well be due to this that Ptolemy uses the beginning of Nabonassar's reign as the epoch for his calculations."
- Dr. John Steele

-0412 Aug 28 - Siege of Syracuse

"And when all were in readiness, and none of the enemy had observed them, not expecting such a thing, the moon was eclipsed in the night, to the great fright of Nicias and others, who, for want of experience, or out of superstition, felt alarm at such appearances. That the sun might be darkened about the close of the month, this even ordinary people now understood pretty well to be the effect of the moon; but the moon itself to be darkened, how that could come about, and how, on the sudden, a broad full moon should lose her light, and show such various colours, was not easy to be comprehended; they concluded it to be ominous, and a divine intimation of some heavy calamities. For he who the first, and the most plainly of any, and with the greatest assurance committed to writing how the moon is enlightened and overshadowed, was Anaxagoras; and he was as yet but recent, nor was his argument much known, but was rather kept secret, passing only amongst a few, under some kind of caution and confidence."
- Nicias by Plutarch

-0405 Apr 15 - Fire in the temple of Athena

"In the ensuing year--the year in which there was an eclipse of the moon one evening, and the old temple of Athena at Athens was burned, Pityas being now ephor at Sparta and Callias archon at Athens--the Lacedaemonians sent Callicratidas to take command of the fleet, since Lysander's term of office had ended (and with it the twenty-fourth year of the war)."
- Hellenica by Xenophon

-0128 Nov 05 - Death of Carneades

"At the time he died the moon is said to have been eclipsed, and one might well say that the brightest luminary in heaven next to the sun thereby gave token of her sympathy. According to Apollodorus in his chronology he departed his life in the fourth year of the 162-nd Olympiad at the age of eighty-five years."
- Carneades by Diogenes Laertius IV

0014 Sep 27 - Death of Augustus

"For the troops in Pannonia had mutinied as soon as they learned of the death of Augustus, and coming together into one camp and strengthening it, they committed many rebellious acts. ... But when the moon suffered eclipse, they took the omen to heart and their spirit abated, so that they did no further harm to this detachment and dispatched envoys again to Tiberius."
- Roman History by Cassius Dio

"The Moon in the midst of a clear sky became suddenly eclipsed; the soldiers who were ignorant of the cause took this for an omen referring to their present adventures: to their labors they compared the eclipse of the planet, and prophesied 'that if to the distressed goodness should be restored her wonted brightness and splendor, equally successful would be the issue of their struggle.' Hence they made a loud noise, by ringing upon brazen metal, and by blowing trumpets and cornets; as she appeared brighter or darker they exulted or lamented"
- Tacitus

1349 Jul 01 - A Witch's Eclipse

"The worthy Abp. Bradwardine, who flourished in the reign of the Norman Edwards, and died A.D. 1349, tells a story of a witch who was attempting to impose on the simple people of the time. It was a fine summer's night, and the Moon was suddenly eclipsed. 'Make me good amends,' said she, 'for old wrongs, or I will bid the Sun also to withdraw his light from you.' Bradwardine, who had studied with Arabian astronomers, was more than a match for this simple trick, without calling in the aid of the Saxon law. 'Tell me', he said, 'at what time you will do this, and we will believe you; or if you will not tell me I will tell you when the Sun or the Moon will next be darkened, in what part of their orb the darkness will begin, how far it will spread, and how long it will continue'."
- Archdeacon Churton

1433 Jul 02 - Two Eclipses in 15 Days

"On Wednesday the 28th of Shawwal, the Sun was eclipsed by about two-thirds in the sign of Cancer more than one hour after the afternoon prayer. The eclipse cleared at sunset. During the eclipse there was darkness and some stars appeared. . . . On Friday night the 14th of Dhu I-Qu'da, most of the Moon was eclipsed. It rose eclipsed from the eastern horizon. The eclipse cleared in the time of the nightfall prayer. This is a rarity - the occurrence of a lunar eclipse 15 days after a solar eclipse."
- al-Maqrizi

1457 Sep 03 - Time Error Eclipse

"Lunar eclipse observed by Georg Peurbach and Regiomontanus in Melk. The considerable error between the observed time and that predicted by the Alphonsine tables may be one reason why Regiomontanus worked on a new set of tables."
- Dr. John Steele

1504 Mar 01 - Columbus' Eclipse

"The Indians observed this [the eclipse] and were so astonished and frightened that with great cries and lamentations they came running from all directions to the ships, carrying provisions and begging (...) and promising they would diligently supply all their needs in the future."
- Ferdinand Columbus

1573 Dec 08 - Brahe's Eclipse

"Lunar eclipse predicted and then observed by a young Tycho Brahe in Knudstrup. He says that 'I cannot but be very surprised that even at this youthful age of 26 years, I was able to get such accurate results' from his prediction."
- Dr. John Steele

References for Lunar Eclipses of Historical Interest

Brewer, B., Eclipse, Earth View, Seattle, 1991

Humphreys, Colin J. and Waddington, W. G., "Dating the Crucifixion", Nature, Vol. 306, No. 5945, p.743-746, 22 December 1983

Littmann, M., Espenak, F., and Willcox, K. Totality - Eclipses of the Sun (3rd Ed.), Oxford University Press, New York, 2008.

Schaefer, Bradley E., "Solar Eclipses That Changed the World", Sky and Telescope, May, 1994, p.36-39

Schaefer, Bradley E., "Lunar Eclipses That Changed the World", Sky and Telescope, December, 1992, p.639-642

Schaefer, Bradley E., "Dating the Crucifixion", Sky and Telescope, April, 1989, p.374

Schaefer, Bradley E., "Lunar Visibility and the Crucifixion", Q.Jl. R. astr. Soc., 1990, 31, p.53-67

Steel, Duncan, Eclipse: The Celestial Phenomenon That Changed the Course of History (Washington, D.C.: The Joseph Henry Press, 2001)