The Lunar Total Eclipse

Tuesday August 28, 2007- I have been watching the moon eclipse since one forty-five a.m. MST. Clicked a slew of digital shots, doubt if they will be too representative with my six meg camera, we'll see when I download, though not too hopeful as viewed on the camera image window.

The patio was still overly warm, maybe next trip out I will look at the thermometer with the flashlight. When the eclipse began, there were very distinct ground shadows of all the trees- those disappeared when totality was reached. I tried to get the sense of magnitude by attempting to realize that the perception of slowness was due more to the comparative size and distance apart of the two orbs rather than the passage of how we measure time. It also crossed my mind of how it might have affected a shepherd with his flock around fifteen hundred years ago when a bright moonlit night reveals that much change. Emotions must have been very different than from today when we have so much more knowledge about what is happening celestially.

I plan to check YouTube to see what has been posted ....... another new wrinkle to watching a lunar event.Hmm everyone must have gone back to bed, when I looked I could not find any posts yet, I must try later.

Part of my time today, which has a heat advisory status weatherwise here in the Sonoran Desert of the Valley of the Sun, and where the overnite low temperature didn't get below ninety Fahrenheit, will be spent searching the internet to try to find the oldest historical writings that describe total lunar eclipses.See what happens when curiosity gets an upper hand!

Here is an excerpt from one internet site that is fascinationg and there are other interesting paragraphs from a book that these were taken from, and this is the link:

http://www.earthview.com/ages/myths.htm


Eclipse Myths and Symbolism
The people of many cultures from all parts of the globe have developed various myths and legends about eclipses. Many believe that an eclipse is an omen of some natural disaster or the death or downfall of a ruler. Another pervasive myth involves an invisible dragon or other demon who devours the Sun during an eclipse. Many cultures have also developed superstitions about how to counteract the effects of an eclipse. The Chinese would produce great noise and commotion (drumming, banging on pans, shooting arrows into the sky, and the like) to frighten away the dragon and restore daylight. In India people may immerse themselves in water up to their necks, believing this act of worship will help the Sun and Moon defend themselves against the dragon. In Japan, the custom is to cover wells during an eclipse to prevent poison from dropping into them from the darkened sky. And as recently as the last century, the Chinese Imperial Navy fired its ceremonial guns during an eclipse to scare off the invisible dragon.
This ominous view of eclipses is not the only one. In Tahiti, for example, eclipses have been interpreted as the lovemaking of the Sun and the Moon. Even to this day, the Eskimos, Aleuts, and Tlingits of Arctic America believe an eclipse shows a divine providence: the Sun and the Moon temporarily leave their places in the sky and check to see that things are going all right on Earth. But regardless of the meaning given to them, eclipses will continue to occur, always obeying the regular timetables of celestial motions.
** Material adapted from ECLIPSE by Bryan Brewer
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It gives me a sense of historical continuity with all those ancients to witness the same type of phenomenon. The loss of most of the night's sleep is a small price for such a treat and I'm grateful too that the sky was clear.I seem to recall that the next total lunar will be four years from now. Will I still be here to catch that one?


graysmoke