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Lunar Eclipses of Historical Interest

Fred Espenak

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The following table of lunar eclipses are each associated with some historical event of note. When selected, each eclipse date links to a figure showing the Moon's path though Earth's shadows along with the Greenwich times of each phase of the eclipse. Below the path figure is a world map showing the region of visibility for each phase of the eclipse. These figures are described in greater detail in the Key to Lunar Eclipse Maps. Each figure is stored as a GIF of 65 kilobytes.

Sources and/or literary references to many of these eclipses may be found at:

Ancient and Early Medieval Eclipses in European Sources

Eclipse Quotations

The references at the bottom of this page are also recommended for information on lunar eclipses of historical interest. Those who are unfamiliar with the basic astronomy of lunar eclipses may want to visit Lunar Eclipses for Beginners. A complementary web page Solar Eclipses of Historical Interest is also available. 

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This web site is a work in progress. If you know of an historic eclipse of interest, please email the date and a little information or reference about the event to mailto:espenak@gsfc.nasa.gov. I will generate a map for the eclipse and add it to this page. 
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Lunar Eclipses: 2000 BCE to 1 BCE
Date Eclipse
Type 		Umbral
Magnitude1 		Eclipse
Duration2 		Description/Event
-0424 Oct 09
(425 Oct 09 BCE) 		Total 1.404 03h40m
[01h28m] 		The choice of Cleon
-0412 Aug 28
( 413 Aug 28 BCE) 		Total 1.092 03h23m
[00h46m] 		Siege of Syracuse
-0405 Apr 15
( 406 Apr 15 BCE) 		Total 1.279 03h25m
[01h14m] 		Fire in the temple of Athena
-0330 Sep 20
( 331 Sep 20 BCE) 		Total 1.211 03h18m
[01h04m] 		Eclipse before Arbela battle of
Alexander the Great
-0167 Jun 21
( 168 Jun 21 BCE) 		Total 1.251 03h42m
[01h16m] 		Gallus explains lunar eclipse
before the battle
-0128 Nov 05
( 129 Nov 05 BCE) 		Partial 0.620 02h51m Death of Carneades
-0004 Mar 23
( 5 Mar 23 BCE) 		Total 1.818 03h43m
[01h43m] 		Death of Herod 







  
  

    Lunar Eclipses: 1 ACE to 2000 ACE 
      
  

    Date
    Eclipse
Type 
    		Umbral
Magnitude1 
    		Eclipse
Duration2 
    		Description/Event 
  

    0014 
      Sep 27 
    Total 
    1.666 
    03h36m
[01h38m] 
    		Death of Augustus 
  

    0033 
      Apr 03 
    Partial 
    0.586 
    02h52m 
    Crucifixion of Christ? 
  

    0071 
      Mar 04 
    Partial 
    0.408 
    02h19m 
    Pliny - Two Eclipses in 15 Days 
  

    1433 
      Jul 02 
    Partial 
    0.517 
    02h43m 
    Two Eclipses in 15 Days 
  

    1453 
      May 22 
    Partial 
    0.749 
    02h59m 
    Fall of Constantinople 
  

    1504 
      Mar 01 
    Total 
    1.100 
    03h26m
[00h49m] 
    		Columbus' Eclipse 
  

    1776 
      Jul 31 
    Total 
    1.597 
    03h33m
[01h36m] 
    		James Cook's Lunar Eclipse - 1 
  

    1777 
      Jan 23 
    Partial 
    0.600 
    02h48m 
    James Cook's Lunar Eclipse - 2 
  

    1777 
      Jul 20 
    Partial 
    0.115 
    01h18m 
    James Cook's Lunar Eclipse - 3 
  

    1778 
      Dec 04 
    Partial 
    0.510 
    02h25m 
    James Cook's Lunar Eclipse - 4 
  

    1805 
      Jan 15 
    Total 
    1.747 
    03h34m
[01h39m] 
    		The Lewis and Clark Eclipse 
  

    1863 
      Nov 25 
    Partial 
    0.957 
    03h21m 
    Gordon's Eclipse 
  

    1917 
      Jul 04 
    Total 
    1.624 
    03h33m
[01h37m] 
    		Lawrence of Arabia's Eclipse 
  




1Umbral 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. 
  
2Eclipse 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. 





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The lunar ephemeris used for these predictions was 
developed primarily from the work of Brown [1919] with improvements from Eckert, 
Jones and Clark [1954]. The solar ephemeris is based on the classic work of 
Newcomb [1895]. 

All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he 
assumes full responsibility for their accuracy. 

Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when 
accompanied by an acknowledgment: 



"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC"




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References 


For more information on eclipses of historic interest, see the following: 



  • 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., Willcox, K., and Espenak, F. Totality - Eclipses of the 
Sun, Oxford University Press, New York, 1999. 

  • 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.Jl. R. 
astr. Soc., 1990, 31, p.53-67. 

  • Steel, Duncan, "Eclipse", 1999 

    

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    Eclipse Predictions & WebMaster: Fred Espenak 
    Planetary 
      Systems Branch - Code 693 
    e-mail: mailto:espenak@gsfc.nasa.gov
      
    NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 USA 
    

    

    Last revised: 2001 Oct 12 - F. 
Espenak
    

    
  
  
   
  
  

    
  
  
  


    

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