Thursday, February 29, 2024

Solar Calendar Leap-Year Day Eclipse in 1504 Saves Columbus' Crew

     

Illustration of explorer Christopher Columbus predicting the Eclipse of the Moon 520 years ago on 1504 February 29 to the native people of Jamaica. This drawing is taken from page 273 of the book The Romance of Spanish History with Illustrations authored by John Stevens Cabot Abbott in 1869.

(Image Sources: Wikipedia.org, By Camille Flammarion - Astronomie Populaire 1879, p231 fig. 86, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3613218)

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Today (Thursday, 2024 February 29) marks Leap-Year Day, the day of the Solar Calendar that comes around, usually once every four years. On the Leap-Year Day in 1504, explorer Christopher Columbus' crew was saved from starvation, when an Eclipse of the Moon was used to scare native Jamaicans to resume feeding the ship-wrecked crew.

Beginning of Leap-Year Day

The need for a Leap-Year Day became very apparent even before what many today refer to as the “Common Era (C.E.)”, better known as Anno Domini or A.D. (“in the year of the Lord”), the era after the birth of Jesus Christ of the Christian Bible. The early calendars did not properly align with the seasons and the feasts and festivals of a year; festivals would slip out of sync with the seasons as reckoned by the Sun and Moon. A calendar system was needed that would more closely align with the astronomical movements of the Sun, Moon, and Earth.

A calendar with a Leap-Year Day was first proposed during the rule of Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. This calendar first took effect on 45 B.C. January 1.

This calendar was a reform of the earlier Roman Calendar, which was a Luni-Solar Calendar. By edict, the Julian Calendar became the official calendar of the Roman Empire and the predominant calendar for most of the Western World for 1,600 years, until the Pope Gregory XIII Calendar Reform of 1582.

This Julian Calendar is composed of 365 days for three years and 366 days each fourth year, the Leap-Year---without exception. This meant that the average year was 365.25 days in length, which was 11 minutes longer than the actual length of the Tropical Year, also known as the Solar Year, (determined by the Earth's revolution around the Sun): ~365.24210 days. So, the Julian Calendar gains 1 day every 129 years and 3.1 days every 400 years. Since the year 1900 and until the year 2099, February 29 in the Julian Calendar falls 13 days later than February 29 in the Gregorian Calendar.

The Julian Calendar Rule was modified by the Gregorian Calendar Reform, so that the average length of the year was reduced from 365.25 days to 365.2425 days. This corrected the Julian Calendar's calendar drift against the Solar Year, so that the Gregorian Calendar only gains 0.1 day every 400 years or 1 day every 3,300 years.

The Gregorian Calendar, now the most commonly-used civil calendar in the world, adds a day (February 29) in each year divisible by 4, except in years evenly divisible by 100 (but not by 400). This means that the years 1700, 1800, 1900, and 2100 do not have a Leap-Year Day, but the years 1600 and 2000 did have a Leap-Year Day.

Following the issuance of a Papal Bull Inter Gravissimas by Roman Catholic Church Pope Gregory XIII in October of 1582, all Catholic countries started observing the Gregorian Calendar, introduced as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian Calendar. With this change, Thursday, 1582 October 4 was immediately followed by Friday, 1582 October 15, an advance of 10 days.

According to the science advisers to Pope Gregory XIII, the calendar had acquired 10 extra Leap-Year Days since the First Council of Nicaea, which had established the rule for dating Easter Sunday in A.D. 325. Hence, 10 days needed to be skipped to restore the status quo.

This reform also included an alteration in the Lunar Cycle used by the Roman Catholic Church to calculate the date for Easter. Previously, an Astronomical New Moon Phase would occur 4 days before the calculated date.

While most Roman Catholic countries accepted the Pope's reform, Protestant and Orthodox countries did not. Great Britain and its possessions, including the American colonies and Canada, adopted the change in 1752, with no mention of Pope Gregory XIII. The Julian Calendar was simply referred as to the Old Style (O.S.) dates and the Gregorian Calendar was referred to as the New Style (N.S.) dates.

By this time, an additional Leap-Year Day had passed on the Old Style Calendar. This extra Leap-Year Day occurred during the Old Style Calendar year 1700; had the New Style Calendar been in effect in 1700, there would have been no Leap-Year Day that year. So, 11 days had to be skipped to restore the status quo for the New Style Calendar.

The Gregorian Calendar, known as the New Style Calendar, became the official calendar of the Kingdom of Great Britain, Kingdom of Ireland, and the British Empire (including the American colonies and Canada) following the enactment of the Calendar Act of 1750 by the British Parliament. Hence, Wednesday, 1752 September 2 was immediately followed by Thursday, 1752 September 14. Rumors that rioters demanded, “Give us our eleven days”, seems to have been a misinterpretation of a painting by William Hogarth.

This calendar change affected the first President of the United States. George Washington was born before the calendar change. So, his official birth date was 1731 February 11 Old Style Calendar. After the calendar change occurred, his official birth date was, from then-on, recognized as 1732 February 22 New Style Calendar. His official birth year changed from 1731 to 1732 because, by Old Style Calendar reckoning, the New Year did not begin until March 25 (Lady Day: Feast of the Annunciation). Of course, with the New Style Calendar, the New Year begins on January 1.

Eastern Orthodox countries converted to the Gregorian Calendar in 1923. Eastern Orthodox Church sects, parts of Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Amazigh / Berber peoples of North Africa retained the Julian Calendar as a Liturgical or religious calendar, particularly used for their determination of the dates for Orthodox Christmas and Orthodox Easter.

In Ireland, a tradition dating back to the 5th century allows women to propose marriage to a man on February 29, known as Bachelor's Day or Ladies' Privilege; at one time, this was also legal in Scotland and England. The tradition comes from a deal struck between Saint Bridget and Saint Patrick, as Saint Bridget complained that women had to wait too long to marry because men were slow to propose. After the deal was struck, Saint Bridget proposed marriage to Saint Patrick; Saint Patrick declined and as recompense (sometimes required by law or tradition) gave Saint Bridget a kiss on the cheek and a silk dress.

Leap-Year Day is known as an intercalary, which means a date inserted between two other dates. Interestingly, originally February 24 was Leap-Year Day during the rule of Julius Caesar; on Leap-Years they simply repeated February 24 a second day!

And, February was originally the last month of the year in the Julian Calendar. In the Chinese calendar, from time-to-time an additional month is added to better align with the seasons; this last happened in 2015.

In addition to being the 60th day of a Leap-Year (306 days remain in the Leap Year) and the last day of February for 2024, February 29 is also the last day of Meteorological Winter in Earth's Northern Hemisphere (and the last day of Meteorological Summer in the Southern Hemisphere). Unlike the calendar seasons, meteorological seasons begin at the beginning of a calendar month and end on the last day of a calendar month.

The term, Leap-Year, is derived from the Leap-Year Day's effect on the calendar. During normal years, a certain date moves one day of the week so that that particular date occurs on the next day of the week in the next year. In other words, when February 28 occurs on a Monday one year, February 28 will occur on Tuesday the following year, usually. However, in a Leap-Year, February 28 would "leap-over" Tuesday and appear on Wednesday the following year.

Leap-Year babies born on February 29 are known as Leaplings. During non-Leap-Years, Leaplings usually celebrate their birthday on February 28 (most try to keep the birthday in February) or March 1.  The chance of a person on Earth being born on February 29 is 1 in 1,461.

Adherents to the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (founded in Pittsburgh in 1881), better known as Jehovah's Witnesses, do not celebrate birthdays at all. Founder Charles Taze Russell often preached at the world's first Carnegie Hall on Pittsburgh's North Side, just across the street from where Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science would later be built in 1939.

Lunar Eclipse Saves Columbus' Crew

Since the time man first set sail on the seas, navigation by the stars was a necessity. When Christopher Columbus set sail to find an ocean route to the Far East, by sailing west, he took with him an almanac authored by Abraham Zacuto, which included astronomical tables originally calculated by the German astronomer Regiomontanus (whose real name was Johannes Muller von Konigsberg).

During Columbus' fourth and last voyage to the Americas, he lost all four ships due to an epidemic of ship-worms eating holes in the wooden ships. He was forced to beach the last two caravels on the northern coast of Jamaica on 1503 June 25. At first, the natives on Jamaica welcomed Columbus and his crew and provided them with food and other necessities, in return for items the crew could salvage from the ships.

After being marooned on Jamaica for about six months, half of Columbus' crew mutinied as well as robbing and murdering some of the natives. As the natives had also grown weary of supplying the unexpected castaways, Columbus and his crew faced famine.

Columbus came-up with an ingenious plan to save his crew. In Zacuto's almanac, Columbus noticed that a Total Eclipse of the Moon would occur on the evening of 1504 February 29 to March 1. Three days before the eclipse, Columbus met with the tribal Chief of the natives, telling him that the Christian God was angry with the Jamaican people for stopping the supply of food to Columbus and his men. Columbus told him that God would display his displeasure by all-but obliterating the rising Full Moon in three days. This Moon would be "inflamed with wrath" as an omen for what was to come for the Jamaican people.

On the predicted day and hour, the natives watched as the Moon rose with the lower edge missing. As the sky grew darker, they saw the Moon take-on a bloody-red appearance.

Ferdinand, Christopher Columbus' son, later wrote:

"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."

The natives begged Columbus to have his God restore the Moon. Columbus went to his cabin to "confer" with his God. He actually watched his hour-glass for the time the total phase of the eclipse would end. Just before the end of totality, Columbus reemerged from his cabin to announce to the natives that his God had pardoned them, and the Moon would slowly be restored to normal later in the night.

The Jamaican natives kept their word, and Columbus and his crew were well-supplied until a rescue ship from Hispaniola (today, the island that includes the Dominican Republic and Haiti) arrived on 1504 June 29. Columbus and his crew returned to Spain on 1504 November 7.

An interesting anecdote: When Mark Twain (the pen name for Samuel Clemens) wrote his 1889 novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, he was inspired by Columbus' ploy to have his main character, Hank Morgan who had inadvertently time-traveled to the era of King Arthur and Merlin the Magician, saved from execution by predicting a Solar Eclipse, and, thus, claiming power over the Sun. However, Mark Twain never checked any almanacs while writing the novel, and no eclipse actually occurred on the date he used in the novel: A.D. 528 June 21.

Internet Links to Additional Information ---

Solar Calendar: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_calendar

Luni-Solar Calendar: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunisolar_calendar

Julian Calendar: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar

Gregorian Calendar: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar

Leap-Year: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_year

Leap-Year Day: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_29

Total Lunar Eclipse of 1504 February 29 to March 1 -

NASA - Astronomical Details:
Link >>> http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEhistory/LEplot/LE1504Mar01T.pdf

More Information on Total Lunar Eclipse of 1504 Feb. 29:
Space.com / Joe Rao - Link 1 >>> http://www.space.com/2729-lunar-eclipse-saved-columbus.html
Wikipedia - Link 2 >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1504_lunar_eclipse

More on Lunar Eclipses: >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss     

               "Solar Calendar Leap-Year Day Eclipse in 1504 Saves Columbus' Crew"

                  Thursday, 2024 February 29.

            Artificial Intelligence not used in the writing of this article.

            © Copyright 2024 Glenn A. Walsh, All Rights Reserved

                             Like This Post? Please Share!

More Astronomy & Science News - SpaceWatchtower 'X' / Twitter Feed:
Link >>> https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower

Astronomy & Science Links: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#sciencelinks

Want to receive SpaceWatchtower blog posts in your in-box ?
Send request to < spacewatchtower@planetarium.cc >.

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Informal Science Educator & Communicator                                                             (For more than 50 years! - Since Monday Morning, 1972 June 12):
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991.
Formerly Trustee, Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of only five libraries where both construction and endowment funded by famous industrialist & philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: Link >>> http://www.planetarium.cc Buhl Observatory: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2016/11/75th-anniversary-americas-5th-public.html
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: Link >>> http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear: Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: Link >>> http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc

 * Other Walsh-Authored Blog & Web-Sites: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/gawweb.html

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Sun-Blocking Space Umbrella to Cut Global Warming?

 

                          Artist's conception of a Space Umbrella deployed in Outer Space.

          (Image Source: Asher Space Research Institute of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology)

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Could a giant umbrella in Outer Space reduce solar radiation hitting the Earth, and hence, contribute to a reduction in Global Warming? A proposal for a giant Sun-blocking umbrella to be constructed in Outer Space has been proposed by an Israeli physics professor.

Professor Yoram Rozen of the Asher Space Research Institute of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is floating the possibility that such a parasol floating in Space between the Sun and the Earth could provide some protection from advancing Climate Change. He calculates that such a large Space Umbrella could reduce solar heating of the Earth by 1 or 2 per-cent. Although this would not end Global Warming, it could be one way to reduce the heat received from the Sun.

Last year, the U.S. White House specifically announced that it was open to plans to block sunlight from hitting the Earth. In 2021, philanthropist Bill Gates had proposed spreading millions of tons of chalk dust high in the atmosphere to block sunlight; thus far, nothing has come of this proposal.

The Space Umbrella would have to be about 9 million statute miles / 14.48 million kilometers from the Earth. Scientists claim that, once deployed, the Space Umbrella could reduce the Earth's temperature by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit within the first two years.

The Space Umbrella would consist of light-weight solar sails on a solar-powered spacecraft. It would move through Space by opening and closing the shading layer.

Such a Space Umbrella would need to be approximately one million square miles in size, about the size of the nation of Argentina! That size could not be launched at one time from Earth; sections of the Space Umbrella would have to launch separately and assembled in Space.

An alternative would be to launch a series of smaller Space Umbrellas that may add-up to about the same size. Another alternative would be to have such a Space Umbrella tethered to an asteroid.

A previous suggestion would have been to deploy dust at a La Grange Point (a location in Outer Space where the gravity between the Sun and the Earth are roughly equal, hence allowing matter at the La Grange Point to remain in one spot), so the dust would block some sunlight from reaching the Earth.

The Space Umbrella would use La Grange Point Number 1 (L1). According to the Israeli team, that point would provide a constant shading over a large portion of our planet.

Professor Rozen is now seeking $10-to-$20 million to build a prototype of a smaller size, about 100 square-feet, for construction by 2027. So far, no cost has been estimated for creating and launching a one million square-mile Space Umbrella. But, costs could reach trillions of dollars.

Skeptics of the Space Umbrella plan, including Harvard University astrophysicist Avi Loeb, note that the cost of such a large Space Umbrella(s) would be exorbitant. He said that such a plan would require international collaboration and probably reallocation of funds from the military.

Skeptics also note that launching, assembling, and maintaining such a parasol in Outer Space would be extremely challenging, similar, but to a much greater scale, to the recent launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. There is also a question as to how well such a Space Umbrella could hold-up to the harsh conditions of Outer Space.

Further, a solar storm, meteor, or asteroid that damages the Space Umbrella could result in sudden and rapid warming on Earth, with possible disastrous effects and no ready way to repair such damage.

However, the non-profit Planetary Sunshade Foundation supports the Israeli proposal. They believe the project cost may not be as high as projected, as the costs of space travel continue declining.

Again, this plan, if implemented, would not be a 'silver bullet'. This would be just one way to reduce some heating of the Earth, while the nations of our planet make the hard choices needed for a more permanent solution.

Internet Links to Additional Information ---

Space Sun Shade: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_sunshade

La Grange Point: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrange_point

Climate Change: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change

Global Warming Potential: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_potential

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss     

               "Sun-Blocking Space Umbrella to Cut Global Warming?"

                  Tuesday, 2024 February 13.

            Artificial Intelligence not used in the writing of this article.

            © Copyright 2024 Glenn A. Walsh, All Rights Reserved

                             Like This Post? Please Share!

More Astronomy & Science News - SpaceWatchtower 'X' / Twitter Feed:
Link >>> https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower

Astronomy & Science Links: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#sciencelinks

Want to receive SpaceWatchtower blog posts in your in-box ?
Send request to < spacewatchtower@planetarium.cc >.

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Informal Science Educator & Communicator                                                             (For more than 50 years! - Since Monday Morning, 1972 June 12):
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991.
Formerly Trustee, Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of only five libraries where both construction and endowment funded by famous industrialist & philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: Link >>> http://www.planetarium.cc Buhl Observatory: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2016/11/75th-anniversary-americas-5th-public.html
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: Link >>> http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear: Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: Link >>> http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc

 * Other Walsh-Authored Blog & Web-Sites: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/gawweb.html