According to Vedic literature an eclipse of the sun or the moon takes place when the evil planet Rahu covers the sun or the moon.
In this picture we see an eclipse taking place. It is not an auspicious moment except that in order to counteract its effects, all the Vedic followers emerged themselves in the holy river and chant the Hare Krishna mantra.
The Supreme Lord arranged that when he advented as Lord Caitanya a full lunar eclipse took place and all the inhabitants of Navadvipa and other places were vibrating the all purifying holy names of God. Thus Caitanya Mahaprabnu induced the populous to chant the holy names at the inauguration of his mission in the world.
Dr. Richard L. Thompson, PhD
BBC News When solar fears eclipse reason
Once feared, eclipses are now often eagerly anticipated Solar eclipses are nowadays major tourist attractions, but in ancient times, they were events of ill omen, to be dreaded and feared.
While scientific knowledge has explained the phenomenon, some superstitions continue to hold sway.
An eclipse in Nigeria in 2001 was seen by Muslim youths as anger from god for sinful activities.
And the ancient belief that an eclipse presaged war and devastation is still preached by some mystics in India.
A belief persists in India that all cooked food left uneaten during an eclipse should be given away, as it will have become impure.
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Dr. Richard L. Thompson, a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and founding member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, holds a PhD in mathematics from Cornell University, and is the author of a number of scientific works on evolutionary biology and archeology.
The article that follows below is taken from his book Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy .
If we go 80,000 miles above the region of the Siddhas, Charanas, and Vidyadharas, we come to the level of the planet called Rahu. Some 80,000 miles above Rahu we reach the level of the sun, which is said to lie between Bhurloka and Bhuvarloka in the middle of antariksha ( Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.20.43, 5.24.1). We note that these measurements account for only part of the distance from Bhu-mandala to the sun, since this is given as 100,000 yojanas (or 800,000 miles) in Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.23.9p.
In the Vedic literature it is often mentioned that Rahu causes solar and lunar eclipses by passing in front of the sun or moon. To many people, this seems to blatantly contradict the modern explanation of eclipses, which holds that a solar eclipse is caused by the passage of the moon in front of the sun and a lunar eclipse is caused by the moon’s passage through the earth’s shadow. However, the actual situation is somewhat more complicated than this simple analysis assumes.
The reason for this is that the Surya-siddhanta presents an explanation of eclipses that agrees with the modern explanation but also brings Rahu into the picture. This work explicitly assumes that eclipses are caused by the passage of the moon in front of the sun or into the earth’s shadow. It describes calculations based on this model that make it possible to predict the occurrence of both lunar and solar eclipses and compute the degree to which the disc of the sun or moon will be obscured. At the same time, rules are also given for calculating the position of Rahu and another, similar planet named Ketu. It turns out that either Rahu or Ketu will always be lined up in the direction of any solar or lunar eclipse.
In Chapter 1 we have already described how the astronomical siddhantas define the orbit of Rahu, and a similar definition is given for Ketu. The positions assigned to Rahu and Ketu correspond to the ascending and descending nodes of the moon—the points where the orbit of the moon (projected onto the celestial sphere) intersects the ecliptic, or the orbit of the sun. These nodal points rotate around the ecliptic from east to west, with a period of about 18.6 years. One of them must always point in the direction of an eclipse, since the moon can pass in front of the sun or into the earth’s shadow only if the sun, moon, and earth lie on a straight line. Thus, by placing Rahu and Ketu at the nodal points of the moon, the Surya-siddhanta conforms both with the modern theory of eclipses and the Vedic explanation involving Rahu and Ketu.
One objection that may be raised to the explanation given in the Surya-siddhanta is that it contradicts the Vedic statement that the moon is higher than the sun. However, we have seen that this statement refers to the height of the moon above the plane of Bhu-mandala, and not the distance along the line of sight from the earth globe to the moon.
Another objection one might raise is that the explanation in the Surya-siddhanta seems to be a cheap compromise between the Vedic account of eclipses (which many will regard as mythological) and the modern account (which many will regard as an import into India from the Greeks). It is true that Rahu and Ketu seem to play a rather superfluous role in the eclipse calculations given in the Surya-siddhanta . However, there are reasons for supposing that these planets do not appear in these calculations as a mere decoration.
The principal reason for this is that the positions of Rahu and Ketu play an important role in astrology. This means that astrologers need some system of calculation that will tell them where Rahu and Ketu are at any given time. We have argued in Chapter 1 that astrology has traditionally played an important role in Vedic culture. From this it follows that some methods for calculating the positions of Rahu and Ketu have traditionally been required in Vedic society. Since we have no evidence that any other method of calculating these positions has ever been used, this can be taken as an indirect indication that the method used in the Surya-siddhanta has co-existed with the Vedic shastras for a very long time.
Of course, by this argument we cannot conclude definitely that this particular method of calculation has always been used. But we can at least be sure that the Vedic society, with its emphasis on astrology and the astronomical timing of religious ceremonies, has always needed more than a mere qualitative story to account for eclipses and other astronomical phenomena.
In the West there is also a long tradition ascribing solar and lunar eclipses to the action of some celestial beings of a demonic nature. There these beings have also been associated with the nodes of the moon, and they are known as the head and tail of the dragon. The story of this eclipse-dragon may help give us some indication of how little we really know about history. Figure 16 is a medieval Islamic picture showing an angel severing the head of the eclipse-dragon. (This is reminiscent of the story of the decapitation of Rahu by Lord Vishnu.) Figure 17 is a strikingly similar picture showing St. George, the patron saint of England, slaying a dragon. Unless this is a complete coincidence, it would seem that the story of the eclipse-dragon was somehow woven into the iconography of early Christianity without any indication of its significance being preserved. (St. George is said to have been born in Asia Minor in about A.D. 300, but there is apparently no information indicating how he came to be connected with a dragon (BD, p. 539).) Unfortunately, our knowledge of the ancient history of this story is practically nonexistent.
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Eclipses for the Year 2010
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Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15
The first solar eclipse of 2010 occurs at the Moon’s ascending node in western Sagittarius. An annular eclipse will be visible from a 300-km-wide track that traverses central Africa, the Indian Ocean and eastern Asia. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which includes eastern Europe, most of Africa, Asia, and Indonesia.
Partial Lunar Eclipse of June 26
The first partial lunar eclipse of 2010 occurs at the Moon’s ascending node in western Sagittarius about 3° east of the Lagoon Nebula (M8). It will be visible after sunset from Australia, from much of the Americas, the Pacific and eastern Asia. It will be seen before sunrise setting over western North and South America .
The lunar eclipse will occur in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 26 as the moon crosses through the southern portion of Earth’s shadow in the constellation Sagittarius. At least some of this interesting event will be visible from western and central North America. – Half-hidden moon – At its peak, slightly more than half of the moon’s diameter will be dramatically darkened, possibly tinged slightly with a mixture of faint orange and reddish hues.
Total Solar Eclipse of July 11
The second total solar eclipse of 2010 occurs at the Moon’s descending node in central Gemini just 45 arc-minutes east of the 3rd magnitude star Delta Geminorum. The path of totality will only be visible in the southern Pacific Ocean, Easter Island, and parts of southern Chile and Argentina. A partial eclipse will be visible in many parts of southern South America.
The eclipse will be visible across the Pacific Ocean, and in the tip of South America. It will last over 5 minutes at maximum, and will be visible over a path up to 259 km wide. The total eclipse begins north-east of New Zealand at 18:15:15 UT, and ends in Patagonia at 20:51:42 UT. The maximum eclipse is at 19:33:34 UT, when the total phase will last over 5 minutes. The partial eclipse will be visible over the southern Pacific and southern South America between 17:09:40 UT and 21:57:16 UT.
Total Lunar Eclipse of December 21
The last lunar eclipse of 2010 is especially well placed for observers throughout North America. The eclipse occurs at the Moon’s descending node in eastern Taurus, four days before perigee.
The eclipse will be visible throughout most of eastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, the Americas, and Europe. It will be visible after midnight of December 21 in North and South America. Since the Moon will be almost directly overhead from these locations, this should be an excellent chance to view a rare total lunar eclipse. The beginning of the total eclipse will be visible from northern Europe just before sunrise. The end of the total eclipse will be visible rising at sunset for Japan and northeastern Asia.
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