Eclipses

HISTORICAL ANECDOTE from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1504_lunar_eclipse)

On 30 June 1503, Christopher Columbus beached his two last caravels and was stranded in Jamaica. The indigenous people of the island welcomed Columbus and his crew and fed them, but after six months, the natives halted the food supply. Columbus had on board an almanac authored by Abraham Zacuto of astronomical tables covering the years 1475–1506. Upon consulting the book, he noticed the date and the time of an upcoming lunar eclipse. He was able to use this information to his advantage. He requested a meeting for that day with the Cacique, the leader, and told him that God was angry with the local people's treatment of Columbus and his men. Columbus said God would provide a clear sign of displeasure by making the rising full Moon appear "inflamed with wrath".

The lunar eclipse and the red Moon appeared on schedule, and the indigenous people were impressed and frightened. The son of Columbus, Ferdinand, wrote that the people “... with great howling and lamentation ... came running from every direction to the ships, laden with provisions, praying the Admiral to intercede by all means with God on their behalf; that he might not visit his wrath upon them”.

Columbus went into his cabin to pray and timed the eclipse with his hourglass, and shortly before the totality ended after 48 minutes, he told the frightened indigenous people that they were going to be forgiven. When the Moon started to reappear from the shadow of the Earth, he told them that God had pardoned them.

SCIENCE!

Today, of course, we understand how and why eclipses work, so we’re not easily flummoxed by them. They ARE still pretty impressive, tho, and this month we’ll learn more about them from Madison Skeptics co-founder John Rummel, an ardent amateur astronomer. Due to you-know-what, we’ll be doing it via Zoom, an on-line video-conferencing tool. Get a head start on knowing how to use Zoom by downloading a pictorial explanation from:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lfa0z5u5dwug9p5/AAAg5gqbV7b9ykjlRS1ArR3La?dl=0

Around noon on Thu. Apr. 30 we’ll send out the Zoom link to everybody who’s RSVPed for this event. Click on that link at 7:00 PM to join the conference.

PERTINENT QUOTATIONS

"I’ll tell you why [God exists], in my opinion. All right? Tide goes in. Tide goes out. Never a miscommunication. You can’t explain that." —Bill O'Reilly (1949- ) American right-wing TV personality, The O’Reilly Factor, 2011 Jan. 4

"I do not believe in putting out the sun to keep weeds from growing." —Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) “The Great Agnostic”

"Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings." —Victor J. Stenger (1935-2014) American physicist, philosopher, and atheist

"When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set." —Lin Yutang (1895-1976) writer and translator