Lunar eclipse from 14./15. September 591 BC Chr.

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The observation details of the lunar eclipse from 14./15. September 591 BC BC
(-590 according to astronomical time calculation , Saros period  47) were recorded on a cuneiform tablet by a Babylonian astronomer . The record (BM 32234) belonging to the genre of ACT texts is currently in the British Museum in London . The in Julian calendar system indicated 14-15. September 591 BC Chr. Equivalent to conversion on the present Gregorian calendar the 8/9. September 591 BC Chr.

This record gained particular importance through the reference to the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II, among other things . The lunar eclipse could not be observed in Babylonia because it began there in the morning hours. The Babylonian astronomers calculated the beginning based on their experience.

First translations

The Assyriologist Johann Strassmaier and the astronomers Josef Epping and Franz-Xaver Kugler first began to translate the Babylonian-astronomical cuneiform text.

The outstanding research achievements of the time were continued by Otto Neugebauer , among others . In 1955 the three-volume standard work Astronomical cuneiform Texts - Babylonian ephemerides of the Seleucid period for the motion of the sun, the moon, and the planets , which still forms the basis of Babylonian astronomical history to this day, was published.

Babylonian text BM 32234 (LBAT 1419)

The astronomical event mentioned was a total lunar eclipse that had to be dated precisely based on the information in the cuneiform text. By checking with other historical eclipses, it was found that the historical dates deviate from the back-calculated values. The corresponding time difference is referred to as " Δ T ".

Taking into account the Δ T , the partial phase of the lunar eclipse began in Babylonia around 5:35 a.m. on September 15  ,  591 BC. And reached its maximum around 7:40 am. The extrapolation shows great accuracy regarding the actual occurrence of the lunar eclipse:

"Nebuchadnezzar II. 14th year: [13. Ululu] against ... [...], [moon darkened] with the sunrise ... "

- BM 32234 (LBAT 1419)

See also

literature

  • Josef Epping, Johann-Nepomuk Strassmeier: Astronomical things from Babylon or the knowledge of the Chaldeans about the starry sky . Herder, Freiburg 1889, ( parts from Maria-Laach supplementary books 44).
  • Franz-Xaver Kugler : astronomy and star service in Babel . Volume 1: Development of Babylonian Planetary Studies from its Beginnings to Christ. According to mostly unpublished sources from the British Museum . Aschendorff, Münster 1907.
  • Otto Neugebauer : The exact sciences in antiquity . Unabridged, slightly corrected reprint of the 2nd edition, Brown University Press, 1957. Dover Publications, New York NY 2004, ISBN 0-486-22332-9 , ( Dover classics of science and mathematics ).
  • Otto Neugebauer (Ed.): Astronomical cuneiform Texts. Babylonian ephemerides of the Seleucid period for the motion of the sun, the moon, and the planets . Reprint edition. 3 volumes. Springer, New York NY et al. 1983, ISBN 0-387-90812-9 , ( Sources in the history of mathematics and physical sciences 5), (the original edition appeared: Humphries, London 1955).
  • Abraham J. Sachs: Astronomical Diaries and related Texts from Babylonia . Volume 5: Hermann Hunger (Ed.): Lunar and Planetary Texts . Including materials by Abraham J. Sachs. With an appendix by John M. Steele. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-7001-3028-7 , ( Austrian Academy of Sciences - Philosophical-Historical Class - Memoranda 299).
  • Francis Richard Stephenson : Historical Eclipses and Earth's rotation . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1997, ISBN 0-521-46194-4 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c Date in the Julian calendar ; in the Gregorian calendar , 6 days are subtracted from the Julian date. The date is based on NASA information ( memento from March 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) taking into account the T-Delta. For Babylonia, the time zone surcharge of 3 hours must be taken into account compared to Universal Time (UT); according to Jean Meeus : Astronomical Algorithms - Applications for Ephemeris Tool 4,5 - , Barth, Leipzig 2000 for: Ephemeris Tool 4,5 according to Jean Meeus, conversion program, 2001 .
  2. ^ A b Hermann Hunger: Lunar and Planetary Texts . P. 395.
  3. ↑ 5 hours and 9 minutes.
  4. ↑ The sunrise occurred around 5:40 a.m. local time.