The Sun and the Saros

It took centuries to determine that eclipses occur in predictable patterns.

by David Ellyard

Of all the observable celestial events, the one that most terrified the ancients was a total eclipse of the Sun. Suddenly, and seemingly without warning, the light of the Sun would be extinguished, and the world would go dark. It was judged an ill omen. Today we find a total eclipse of the Sun to be a memorable experience, even if we do not expect bad things to follow. The ancient Babylonians (aka the Chaldeans) lived between 2,000 and 400 years ago, in the region now occupied by Iraq and part of Syria. Because they thought an eclipse of the Sun foretold some significant event, they paid special attention to them, and for hundreds of years their sky-watchers observed and recorded these occurrences. Initially the events seemed random, occurring unexpectedly and reinforcing…

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Australian Sky & Telescope (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 2023

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