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# The earliest known solar eclipse record redated

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## Abstract

AN astronomical event recorded on a clay tablet found in 1948 among the ruins of the ancient city of Ugarit, in what is now Syria, was identified 20 years ago as a description of a total solar eclipse that occurred on 3 May 1375 BC1,2. The dating of ancient solar eclipses provides reference points to fix the long-term evolution of angular momentum in the Earth-Moon system3. We have reanalysed the Ugarit eclipse record4. A new historical dating of the tablet, and mention in the text of the visibility of the planet Mars during the eclipse as well as the month in which it occurred enables us to show that the recorded eclipse in fact occurred on 5 March 1223 BC. This new date implies that the secular deceleration of the Earth's rotation has changed very little during the past 3,000 years.
... In 18 th Century, German Philosopher Kant had suggested the theory of retardation of Earth's spin based on the ancient records of Solar Eclipses [Stephenson 1986, Stephenson 2003. Similar kind of studies had been carried out by Kevin Pang at Jet propulsion Laboratory at Pasadena [Morrison 1978, Jong & Soldt 1989. He happened to step upon certain ancient records regarding Solar Eclipses. ...
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NASA's press release of 'Moon having receded by 1 m from Earth in a quarter of century' on the Silver Jubilee Anniversary (20 July 1994) of Man's landing on Moon led to the development of the Kinematic Model(KM) of evolving Earth-Moon System. Best fit KM is adopted for the analysis of evolving E-M system, The present length of day of Earth is assumed to be 24 hours, orbital period of Moon divided by spin period of Earth=LOM/LOD=27.322 and the age of Moon=4.46Gy. Using this best fit model the velocity of recession of Moon is derived as 2.3cm/y as compared to 3.8cm/y by Lunar Laser Ranging experiment. KM is used to plot lengthening of day curve from the birth of Moon to the present time. This theoretical plot is superimposed on the observed lengthening of day curve. The observed plot is generated from the observed length of day in different geologic epochs by John West Wells, Charles P.Sonnet and Kaula Harris by the study of coral fossils, ancient tidalites and marine creatures respectively. The two have close fit for most of the geologic epochs studied except for the period from 600Ma to 900Ma where Earth is seen to be moving faster than expected. This could not be due to post-glacial rebound since there was no Ice Age recorded earlier than 900Ma. Hence it is postulated that it could be due to plate tectonic movement and continents redistribution. This study clearly shows that measurement of Length of Day could be a reliable indicator of the changes of moment of inertia of Earth taking place and hence it could contain Earthquake and impending sudden volcanic eruptions precursors. It is strongly suggested that on day to day basis lod fluctuations may be studied and the correlation between the chaotic fluctuations in lod and earthquake occurrence may be sought for so that lod fluctuations may become an effective Early Warning System for natural disasters of this category.
... For example, the oldest recorded solar eclipse dates back to 1223 BC (de Jong & van Soldt 1989) and it is known that by the eighth century BC Babylonian astronomers were keeping detailed records of eclipses. Later the invention of the telescope in 1608 AD allowed researchers such as Thomas Harriot and Galileo Galilei to study sunspots, dark regions on the surface of the Sun with intense magnetic fields and suppressed temperatures. ...
Article
Heavy ions in the solar wind record the history of physical events occurring to a given parcel of plasma during its escape from the solar atmosphere. Heating, acceleration, and interactions with waves, particles, and magnetic fields all imprint their signatures in the elemental composition and ionic charge states of heavy ions which carry the information unchanged from a few solar radii all the way to the edge of the heliosphere. Therefore by studying heavy ions in the solar wind near-Earth, we are able to peer back into the corona and gain valuable insight concerning physical processes within a region currently inaccessible to direct satellite exploration. Understanding how mass and energy is released from the Sun and transported into interplanetary space is of increasing importance to our modern society which depends on space-based technology for global navigation and communications. In this work we explore the source regions, release and acceleration mechanisms, and elemental fractionation of the slow solar wind. In particular we seek to answer the following questions: (1) ???How much plasma, if any, do the largest coronal loops contribute to the solar wind????, (2) ???Where and how does closed filed plasma escape into the solar wind and become accelerated????, and (3) ???What are the physical conditions and time scales required for gravitational settling????. Towards these ends, we delve into over 20 years of solar wind data from two nearly identical Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS) instruments which flew onboard the Ulysses (1990 ??? 2009) and Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE; 1998 - present) spacecraft. We utilize novel analysis methods and discover the existence of a new class of solar wind events which we call ???heavy ion dropouts???. These dropouts have distinctive, mass-fractionated elemental composition indicative of specific coronal conditions and probable source regions. By analyzing the temporal and spatial variability of heavy ion dropouts and comparing our observations to basic simulations of the solar corona, we are able to provide fresh insight which may be used to constrain, validate, and refine prevailing solar wind theories.
... In 18th Century, German Philosopher Kant had suggested the theory of retardation of Earth's spin based on the ancient records of Solar Eclipses (Stephenson 1986(Stephenson , 2003. Similar kind of studies have been carried out by Kevin Pang at Jet propulsion Laboratory at Pasadena (Morrison 1978;Jong and Soldt 1989). He happened to step upon certain ancient records regarding Solar Eclipses. ...
Article
The prospect of combining integral field spectroscopy with the solar gravitational lens (SGL) to spectrally and spatially resolve the surfaces and atmospheres of extrasolar planets is investigated. The properties of hyperbolic orbits visiting the focal region of the SGL are calculated analytically, demonstrating trade-offs between departure velocity and time of arrival, as well as gravity assist maneuvers and heliocentric angular velocity. Numerical integration of the solar barycentric motion demonstrates that navigational acceleration of dv ≲ 80 m s + 6.7 m s t year is needed to obtain and maintain alignment. Obtaining target ephemerides of sufficient precision is an open problem. The optical properties of an oblate gravitational lens are reviewed, including calculations of the magnification and the point-spread function that forms inside a telescope. Image formation for extended, incoherent sources is discussed when the projected image is smaller than, approximately equal to, and larger than the critical caustic. Sources of contamination that limit observational signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) are considered in detail, including the Sun, the solar corona, the host star, and potential background objects. A noise mitigation strategy of spectrally and spatially separating the light using integral field spectroscopy is emphasized. A pseudo-inverse-based image reconstruction scheme demonstrates that direct reconstruction of an Earth-like source from single measurements of the Einstein ring is possible when the critical caustic and observed S/N are sufficiently large. In this arrangement, a mission would not require multiple telescopes or navigational symmetry breaking, enabling continuous monitoring of the atmospheric composition and dynamics on other planets.
Preprint
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The prospect of combining integral field spectroscopy with the solar gravitational lens (SGL) to spectrally and spatially resolve the surfaces and atmospheres of extrasolar planets is investigated. The properties of hyperbolic orbits visiting the focal region of the SGL are calculated analytically, demonstrating trade offs between departure velocity and time of arrival, as well as gravity assist maneuvers and heliocentric angular velocity. Numerical integration of the solar barycentric motion demonstrates that navigational acceleration of $\textrm{d}v \lesssim 80 \frac{\textrm{m}}{\textrm{s}} + 6.7 \frac{\textrm{m}}{\textrm{s}} \frac{t}{\textrm{year}}$ is needed to obtain and maintain alignment. Obtaining target ephemerides of sufficient precision is an open problem. The optical properties of an oblate gravitational lens are reviewed, including calculations of the magnification and the point-spread function that forms inside a telescope. Image formation for extended, incoherent sources is discussed when the projected image is smaller than, approximately equal to, and larger than the critical caustic. Sources of contamination which limit observational SNR are considered in detail, including the sun, the solar corona, the host star, and potential background objects. A noise mitigation strategy of spectrally and spatially separating the light using integral field spectroscopy is emphasized. A pseudoinverse-based image reconstruction scheme demonstrates that direct reconstruction of an Earth-like source from \textit{single} measurements of the Einstein ring is possible when the critical caustic and observed SNR are sufficiently large. In this arrangement, a mission would not require multiple telescopes or navigational symmetry breaking, enabling continuous monitoring of the atmospheric composition and dynamics on other planets.
Article
Historical records of total solar eclipses provide vital information for computing the rotation of the Earth and understanding its long-term variations in the time before modern measurements. While eclipses recorded around Eurasia and North Africa for millennia have been subjected to consideration in this context, eclipse records in the American continents have received little attention. In this study, we analysed the solitary observational record for a solar eclipse conducted by the ancient Maya on 790 July 16 in the Julian calendar, recorded on the Stela 3 of Santa Elena Poco Uinic (N16°35′, W91°44′). This stela has an eclipse glyph and is associated with a total solar eclipse. Taking the up-to-date Earth rotation (ΔT) rate into account, our calculations locate this site slightly out of the totality path. The visibility of the total solar eclipse from Santa Elena Poco Uinic would require ΔT to be 4074 s < ΔT < 4873 s. In comparison with the contemporary eclipse records, this yields a short-term increase in ΔT ≥ 800 s between 761 and 790 and a decrease in ΔT ≥ 580 s between 790 and 873. Therefore, the total solar eclipse on 790 July 16 cannot be expected to have been visible from Santa Elena Poco Uinic, unlike what has been previously considered. We conclude that this stela probably records a partial solar eclipse of great magnitude (≈0.946) visible under favourable meteorological conditions or is based on hearsay from the southern coastal area.
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This paper offers an interpretation of the astronomical phenomenon described in Josh 10:12-13 as an annular solar eclipse. According to NASA data, this type of eclipse was seen in the skies of central Israel, where the ancient city of Gibeon was located, on October 30, 1207 BCE . A philological analysis of both Joshua 10 and Habakkuk 3 shows that the phenomenon is described using polysemic verbs in poetic style, describing the darkening of the sun by the moon “standing” in front of it.
Thesis
The causes of solar variations and their impact on climatic environments have been andstill are the subject of large debate. The possible influence of planetary perturbations on thesolar cycles have also been recently the subject of multiples controverses. The goal of thepresent thesis is to provide some insight on this problem by a new computation of the planetaryperturbations on the Sun, at short, middle and and long time scales.At first, we describe our current understanding of the physical causes of the solar activityand their major observable manifestations, such as the sun spots records. We provide somehistorical background for the numerous records of solar activity proxies. We also review thedifferent approaches to explain the solar planetary relationships through an analysis of thepublished literature.The main purpose of the present work is to study the possible influence of the planetarygravitational perturbations on the solar cycles. In a first part, we analyse the short, middle andlong term solar activity behavior by using the quasiperiodic approximations provided by thefrequency map analysis method to determine the main periodicities of the solar cycles. Thisallows us to provide some reconstruction of the long timescale changes of solar activity variation.The reconstructed activity series are compared with the observed solar activity data and thelong term natural archives such as radioisotopes proxies. The reconstructed series still preservethe well recorded historical grand minima and maxima events and provide us some extendeddata for the study of the long timescale evolution of solar cycles.There has already been some attempts to explain the direct or partial influences of anexternal (e.g., the planets ) or an internal (e.g., its dynamo) effects on the solar changes. In thepresent work, we investigate the planetary tidal influence on solar cycle variations. We havedeveloped a realistic dynamical model for describing the tidal effect exerted by the perturbationof the planets of the Solar system on the deformation of the non-spherical Sun’s surface whichmay partially modulate its activity variations. The model is limited to the dynamical effects ofthe planets on the Sun and do not take account any physical interior process of the Sun. TheSun is considered as an homogeneous three axial non spherical body.The variations of the potential coefficients induced by the effects of body tides are com-puted, using the last INPOP planetary ephemerides and the long term solutions La2004. Thesemi-analytical expressions of the deformation coefficients of potential are derived. Thus, theestimations of the planetary tides effects of each planets and their combinations are comparedto the solar activity records and their reconstructed series. Hence, the correlations between thevariations of the deformation of Sun’s surface and its activity records are discussed.
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Colin J Humphreys and W Graeme Waddington report on the oldest recorded solar eclipse, a biblical reference which may be used to date precisely the reign of Ramesses the Great.
Chapter
A solar eclipse occurs when the path of the Moon, as seen from the Earth, crosses that of the Sun. In the case of a total solar eclipse the lunar disc completely covers the Sun. Only in this circumstance will the corona, the outermost region of the solar atmosphere, become visible. It is also only during such an eclipse that the smaller ‘prominences’ (sometimes called ‘protuberances’), the red “… masses of great tenuity held in suspension …” (Carrington 1858, p. 177), will be seen, extending beyond the limb of the Moon. The source and nature of the corona and prominences were a topic of intense debate for many years.
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Numerous modern applications have created a demand for low-precision (1 arc min) formulas for the positions of the sun, moon, and planets. With the power of a computerized formula manipulator which can handle algebraic and trigonometric expressions, the development of simple expressions for coordinates and elements from the existing analytic theories is now feasible. The paper presents the results of such developments in a form suitable for use with hand calculators, minicomputers, or microprocessors. The outputs are always in the form of series. The series are also available on punched cards or in the form of FORTRAN subroutines. The full-precision (1 arc sec or better) formulas with unlimited time validity are being developed. Several tables are included.
Article
In spite of arguments about the astronomical interpretation of ancient eclipse records, one thing is certain - the more that can be found, the more useful they will be.
A total eclipse of the sun is rare enough in any one place and spectacular enough to leave a profound impression on those who observe it. From very early times it was regarded as a portent of disaster and carefully recorded. Advances in the field of geophysics, together with the advent of the high-speed computer, have made it possible to compute early solar eclipses with a new degree of precision, and we may now expect to find a significant correlation between literary and astronomical evidence for solar eclipses in areas where a sufficiently representative bloc of literature has survived. The region around Has Shamra (ancient Ugarit) is one such area, and it was decided to compute the principal solar eclipses visible there during the period covered by the Ugaritic texts (c. 1450–1200 b.c.), and scan the texts for possible references.