• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

The Disappearance Of The Moon In The Year 1110

DrPaulLee

DrPaulLee

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Messages
2,018
I wasn't sure where to put this. Apparently the moon's disappearance in May 1110 has been blamed on volcanoes.

There's no use sugar coating it: According to one scribe in medieval England, A.D. 1110 was a "disastrous year." Torrential rainfall damaged crops, famine stalked the land -- and, as if that wasn't bad enough, on one fateful night in May, the moon simply vanished from the sky. "On the fifth night in the month of May appeared the moon shining bright in the evening, and afterwards by little and little its light diminished," the unnamed scribe wrote in the Anglo-Saxon manuscript known as the Peterborough Chronicle. "As soon as night came, it was so completely extinguished withal, that neither light, nor orb, nor anything at all of it was seen. And so it continued nearly until day, and then appeared shining full and bright."

https://m.slashdot.org/story/370944
 
The "disappearance" seems to have occurred during a lunar eclipse, when the period of maximum "lunar darkness" was so darkened that the moon could not be discerned.

Iceland's Hekla volcano was originally believed to be the culprit, but later analyses indicated the timing was wrong. Ice core analyses now indicate the presumed high-altitude sulphur aerosols came from an unattributed eruption in either the northern or southern hemisphere a year or two earlier. Japan's Mount Asama is now the prime suspect.

https://www.sciencealert.com/myster...ons-in-history-revealed-by-dark-lunar-eclipse

See Also:
https://www.livescience.com/disappearing-moon-caused-by-forgotten-volcano.html
 
Yes, you're right about the coincidence with the eclipse. Stupidly, I forgot to check the date and whether anything else astronomical was occurring. D'oh!
 
Even in conjunction with an eclipse a total "disappearance" of the moon would be an extraordinary event.
 
Was there any mention of stars disappearing also? I doubt there was much in the way of light pollution back then.
 
Austin Popper said:
Was there any mention of stars disappearing also? I doubt there was much in the way of light pollution back then.
Click to expand...

Yes (it's mentioned) and no (they didn't disappear - at least not entirely) ...

The published report contains a more detailed account of the anonymous scribe's description of the event in the Peterborough Chronicle:
“On the fifth night in the month of May appeared the moon shining bright in the evening, and afterwards by little and little its light diminished, so that, as soon as night came, it was so completely extinguished withal, that neither light, nor orb, nor anything at all of it was seen. And so it continued nearly until day, and then appeared shining full and bright.” Significantly, the chronicler attests to an otherwise clear night sky, indicating that the Moon’s disappearance cannot be explained by the presence of clouds: “All the night was the firmament very clear, and the stars over all the heavens shining very bright.” This testimony contrasts starkly with records of blood-red Moons for previous and subsequent eclipses ...
Click to expand...

SOURCE: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-63339-3#Abs1
 
Thanks EG.

We now live in a sparsely populated area, a high mountain valley with little light pollution. The night sky is glorious most of the time, and clear moonless nights are surprisingly bright just from the stars. We had forgotten how stunning that can be, living in small to medium sized towns for many years.
 
I reckon there was probably a big ufo parked in front of it for a bit.
 
Kondoru said:
Wouldnt a volcano in Japan be documented?

Or leave geological evidence?
Click to expand...
Underwater volcano that briefly came to the surface and was subsequently carried under the edge of the continental shelf by subduction?
 
Kondoru said:
Wouldnt a volcano in Japan be documented?
Or leave geological evidence?
Click to expand...

There's residual (geological; ice core) evidence of a major Mount Asama eruption around the same time, but it's not clear that eruption could have been the cause of the disappearing moon effect.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Underwater volcano that briefly came to the surface and was subsequently carried under the edge of the continental shelf by subduction?
Click to expand...

I suppose it's conceivable that a submarine or temporarily-surfaced volcano might be the as yet unidentified southern hemisphere eruption during the relevant timeframe. However, there wouldn't have been enough time for it to have vanished because of tectonic subduction.
 
bugmum said:
Despite having been born on the 5th of May in Peterborough, I should like to refute all possible ideas that this was somehow connected to my arrival, as despite what my children like to say, I was NOT born in 1110 AD...
Click to expand...

You weren't born on the same May date as the disappearing moon incident.

The Julian Calendar was in effect in 1110 CE, and 5 May 1110 on that calendar translates to 12 May 1110 on our current (Gregorian) calendar.
 
EnolaGaia said:
Even in conjunction with an eclipse a total "disappearance" of the moon would be an extraordinary event.
Click to expand...
I've actually seen this. As I've posted on this forum before, I managed to see the eclipse in 1992 when Mount Pinatubo was erupting. It was about two o'clock in the morning, so not many other people were up at the time. At totality the Moon turned into a dark blue circle that was barely visible.
e88_01.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top