Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Historical Interest
Fred Espenak
Introduction
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 web page for the eclipse that includes detailed predictions and a diagram showing the Moon's path though Earth's shadows along with a world map indicating the region of visibility for each phase of the eclipse. These figures are described in greater detail in the Key to Lunar Eclipse Maps.
The second column labeled Eclipse Type defines the kind of lunar eclipse (either Total or Partial).
The third column labeled 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.
The fourth column labeled 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.
The last column gives the historical reference for each eclipse. The references at the bottom of this page provide additional information on lunar eclipses of historical interest. Special thanks to Norma Reis for her two contributed articles Solar Eclipses of History and Lunar Eclipses of History.
A complementary web page Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Historical Interest is also available.
This web site is a work in progress. If you know of a historical eclipse of interest, please email the date and and some information and/or reference about the event to EclipseWise for possible future inclusion on this page.
| Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: 2000 BCE to 1 BCE 1 | ||||
| Calender Date | Eclipse Type |
Umbral Magnitude |
Eclipse Duration |
Description/Event |
| -0746 Feb 06 ( 747 Feb 06 BCE) |
Partial | 0.920 | 03h25m | Babylonian Eclipse Note |
| -0424 Oct 09 ( 425 Oct 09 BCE) |
Total | 1.405 | 03h40m 01h28m |
The choice of Cleon Note |
| -0412 Aug 28 ( 413 Aug 28 BCE) |
Total | 1.080 | 03h22m 00h43m |
Siege of Syracuse Note |
| -0405 Apr 15 ( 406 Apr 15 BCE) |
Total | 1.268 | 03h24m 01h12m |
Fire in the temple of Athena Note |
| -0330 Sep 20 ( 331 Sep 20 BCE) |
Total | 1.210 | 03h17m 01h04m |
Arbela battle of Alexander the Great Note |
| -0167 Jun 21 ( 168 Jun 21 BCE) |
Total | 1.252 | 03h41m 01h16m |
Gallus' Eclipse Note |
| -0128 Nov 05 ( 129 Nov 05 BCE) |
Partial | 0.620 | 02h51m | Death of Carneades Note |
| -0004 Mar 23 ( 5 Mar 23 BCE) |
Total | 1.808 | 03h42m 01h42m |
Death of Herod Note |
1. 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) ↩
| Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: 1 CE to 2050 CE 2 | |||||
| Calender Date | Eclipse Type |
Umbral Magnitude |
Eclipse Duration |
Description/Event | |
| 0014 Sep 27 | Total | 1.665 | 03h36m 01h38m |
Death of Augustus Note | |
| 0033 Apr 03 | Partial | 0.576 | 02h50m | Crucifixion of Christ? Note | |
| 0071 Mar 04 | Partial | 0.407 | 02h19m | Two Eclipses in 15 Days (Pliny) Note | |
| 0734 Jan 24 | Total | 1.584 | 03h37m 01h36m |
Eclipses of Tatwine and Beda Note | |
| 0828 Jul 01 | Total | 1.802 | 03h32m 01h39m |
Two European Eclipses Note | |
| 0828 Dec 25 | Total | 1.026 | 03h30m 00h26m |
Two European Eclipses Note | |
| 1349 Jul 01 | Total | 1.822 | 03h33m 01h40m |
A Witch's Eclipse Note | |
| 1433 Jul 02 | Partial | 0.511 | 02h42m | Two Eclipses in 15 Days Note | |
| 1453 May 22 | Partial | 0.745 | 02h58m | Fall of Constantinople Note | |
| 1457 Sep 03 | Total | 1.253 | 03h19m 01h09m |
Time Error Eclipse Note | |
| 1504 Mar 01 | Total | 1.096 | 03h26m 00h48m |
Columbus' Eclipse Note | |
| 1573 Dec 08 | Total | 1.560 | 03h33m 01h34m |
Brahe's Eclipse Note | |
| 1776 Jul 31 | Total | 1.591 | 03h32m 01h35m |
James Cook's Lunar Eclipse - 1 Note | |
| 1777 Jan 23 | Partial | 0.594 | 02h48m | James Cook's Lunar Eclipse - 2 | |
| 1777 Jul 20 | Partial | 0.109 | 01h16m | James Cook's Lunar Eclipse - 3 | |
| 1778 Dec 04 | Partial | 0.505 | 02h24m | James Cook's Lunar Eclipse - 4 | |
| 1805 Jan 15 | Total | 1.742 | 03h33m 01h38m |
The Lewis and Clark Eclipse Note | |
| 1859 Aug 13 | Total | 1.815 | 03h56m 01h46m |
Record Long Total Lunar Eclipse Note |
|
| 1863 Nov 25 | Partial | 0.952 | 03h20m | Gordon's Eclipse Note | |
| 1917 Jul 04 | Total | 1.618 | 03h33m 01h36m |
Lawrence of Arabia's Eclipse Note | |
| 2000 July 16 | Total | 1.768 | 03h56m 01h46m |
Exceptionally Long Total Lunar Eclipse Note |
|
| 2001 Jan 09 | Total | 1.189 | 03h16m 01h01m |
First Total Lunar Eclipse of the 3rd Millennium Note |
|
2. 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
-0424 Oct 09 - The choice of Cleon
"... the moon deserted her course and the sun at once veiled his beam threatening,
no longer to give you light, if Cleon became general."
- Aristophanes, The Clouds
For more information, see Wikipedia (Wikipedia).
-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
For more information, see Lunar Eclipses of Ancient Times (Reis), Siege of Syracuse, and Wikipedia
-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
-0330 Sep 20 - Arbela battle of Alexander the Great
"But about the first watch the Moon in eclipse,
hid at first the brilliance of her heavenly body, then all her light was sullied and suffused with the hue of blood."
- History of Alexander by Plutarh
"There happened an eclipse of the Moon, about the beginning of the festival of the great mysteries at Athens.
The eleventh night after that eclipse, the two armies being in view of each other,
Darius kept his men under arms, and took a general review of his troops by torch-light.."
- Life of Alexander by Plutarch
For more information, see Lunar Eclipses of Ancient Times (Reis) and Battle of Gaugamela (Wikipedia).
-0167 Jun 21 - Gallus' Eclipse
Gallus explains lunar eclipse before the battle
"When there was an eclipse of the moon in the time of Perseus of Macedonia,
the report gained popular credence that it portented the eclipse of the king."
- Polibius, The Histories
For more information, see Gaius Sulpicius Gallus (Wikipedia)
-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
For more information, see Carneades (Wikipedia)
-0004 Mar 23 - Death of Herod
"As for the other Matthias who had stirred up the sedition,
he (Herod) had him burned alive along with some of his companions. And on that same night there was an eclipse of the Moon.
But Herod's illness became more and more severe. . . ."
- Flavius Josephus
For more information, see Carneades (Wikipedia)
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
For more information, see Lunar Eclipses of History (Reis).
0033 Mar 19 - Crucifixion of Christ?
- Humphreys, Colin J. and Waddington, W. G., "Dating the Crucifixion", Nature, Vol. 306, No. 5945, p.743-746, 22 December 1983.
- 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. J. R. Astr. Soc., 1990, 31, p.53-67.
One of several possible eclipses associated with the Crucifixion of Christ.
"Jesus was delivered to him by Herod, Archelaus, Philip, Annas, Caiphas, and all the people. At his crucifixion the Sun was darkened; the stars appeared and in all the world people lighted lamps from the sixth hour till evening; the Moon appeared like blood."- Report of Pilate
For more information, see Lunar Eclipses of History (Reis) and Crucifixion Eclipse (Wikipedia)
References:0071 Mar 04 - Two Eclipses in 15 Days (Pliny)
"For the eclipse of both sun and moon within 15 days of each other has occured even in our time,
in the year of the third consulship of the elder Emperor Vespasian and the second consulship of the younger."
- Pliny, "Natural History"
0734 Jan 24 - Eclipses of Tatwine and Beda
"the Moon was as if it had been sprinkled with blood,
and Archbishop Tatwine and Beda died and Ecgberht was hallowed bishop."
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
For more information, see Lunar Eclipses of History (Reis).
0828 Jul 01 & 0828 Dec 25 - Two European Eclipses
"In this year the Moon was eclipsed on mid-winter's Mass-night,
and the same year King Ecgbryght subdued the kingdom of the Mercians and all that was South of the Humber."
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
For more information, see Lunar Eclipses of History (Reis).
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
For more information, see Lunar Eclipses of History (Reis).
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
1453 May 22 - Fall of Constantinople
-
"In April, 1453, the Turkish army laid siege to Constantinople. Despite heavy damage, the defenders were able to repair the city walls every night.
The fighting morale of the defenders was maintained by an old prophecy that Constantinople could never fall while the Moon was waxing. But on May 22, the Full Moon rose in eclipse, crushing their morale and the city fell several days later."
For more information, see Lunar Eclipses of History (Reis), Fall of Constantinople (Wikipedia) and Constantinople Siege Raised (This Day in History).
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
For more information, see Lunar Eclipses of History (Reis), March 1504 lunar eclipse (Wikipedia), Christopher Columbus (Wikipedia), and Columbus' Eclipse (Space.com).
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
1776 Jul 31 - James Cook's Lunar Eclipse - 1
For more information, see: James Cook (Wikipedia).
1805 Jan 15 - Lewis and Clark Eclipse
For more information, see: Lewis and Clark Expedition (Wikipedia).
1859 Aug 13 - Record Long Total Lunar Eclipse
With a duration of totality of 01h 46m 28s, this is the longest total lunar eclipse until the 4th Millennium. The longest total lunar eclipse between -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE) occurs on 0318 May 31 and lasts 01h 46m 36s.
1863 Nov 25 - Gordon's Eclipse
In 1851, the Manchu emperors were about to fall, due to the so called Taiping Rebel Group. General Charles Gordon led a British army to support the emperor. The plan was to attack a rebel headquarters on a moonlit night. However, a lunar eclipse occurring shortly before the assault was interpreted as an evil omen by superstitious Chinese soldiers who lost their will to fight. This caused the attack to failed while incurring high casualties.
For more information, see: Lunar Eclipses of History (Reis) and Charles G. Gordon (Wikipedia)
1917 Jul 04 - Lawrence of Arabia's Eclipse
"By my diary there was an eclipse.
Duly it came, and the Arabs forced the post without loss, while the superstitious soldiers were firing rifles
and clanging copper pots to rescue the threatened satellite."
- Thomas Edward Lawrence
For more information, see: Lunar Eclipses of History (Reis) and Thomas E. Lawrence (Wikipedia)
2000 July 16 - Exceptionally Long Total Lunar Eclipse
"Totality lasted an incredible 1 hour 47 minutes 24 seconds.
This is within seconds of the theoretical maximum duration.
A total eclipse hasn't lasted this long since 1859 and it will not be equaled again for over a thousand years!"
- Fred Espenak
For more information, see: 2000 Lunar Eclipse Report (Espenak)
2001 Jan 09 - First Total Lunar Eclipse of 3rd Millennium
The eclipse was visible from Europe, Africa, Asia, and western Australia.
For more information, see: Lunar Eclipses of History (Reis)
References for Catalog of 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. J. R. Astr. Soc., 1990, 31, p.53-67
Calendar
The Gregorian calendar (also called the Western calendar) is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582. On this website, the Gregorian calendar is used for all calendar dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used. For more information on this topic, see Calendar Dates.
The Julian calendar does not include the year 0. Thus the year 1 BCE is followed by the year 1 CE (See: BCE/CE Dating Conventions). This is awkward for arithmetic calculations. Years in this catalog are numbered astronomically and include the year 0. Historians should note there is a difference of one year between astronomical dates and BCE dates. Thus, the astronomical year 0 corresponds to 1 BCE, and astronomical year -1 corresponds to 2 BCE, etc..
Eclipse Predictions
Predictions for Lunar Eclipses of Historical Interest were generated using the JPL DE406 solar and lunar ephemerides. The lunar coordinates were calculated with respect to the Moon's Center of Mass. The predictions are first calculated in Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and then converted to Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). A series of polynomial expressions have been derived to simplify the evaluation of ΔT for any time from -2999 to +3000. The uncertainty in ΔT over this period can be estimated from scatter in the measurements.
Lunar eclipse predictions must take into account the enlargement of Earth's shadows. In this Catalog, Earth's penumbral and umbral shadow sizes have been calculated using Danjon's enlargement method.
Acknowledgments
The Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Historical Interest page is part of the EclipseWise.com web site. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy.
Permission is granted to reproduce eclipse data when accompanied by a link to this page and an acknowledgment:
"Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Historical Interest by Fred Espenak, www.EclipseWise.com"
The use of diagrams and maps is permitted provided that they are NOT altered (except for re-sizing) and the embedded credit line is NOT removed or covered.
Special thanks to Norma Reis for her two contributed articles Solar Eclipses of History and Lunar Eclipses of History.