Common myths and misconceptions about solar eclipses
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Since 3340 B.C.E., when the first recorded solar eclipse was carved in stone, humans have found unique ways to rationalize, react and interpret these astronomical events (no pun intended).
According to Brittanica, ancient Chinese scribes described solar eclipses as the sun being “attacked” and “devoured” by a celestial dragon, and in West Africa, the ancient people of Batammaliba described it as, “human anger and fighting spread to the Sun and the Moon.”
Solar Eclipse Viewing Guide for Kansas City
Interpretations about celestial events and their effects on people have been passed down through generations. With some managing to surpass research from science and astronomy, superstitions have inevitably been passed down to the modern age. But many are wrong.
Here are some answers, provided by NASA, to common solar eclipse misconceptions:
Pregnant women’s babies could be harmed if they watch the solar eclipse
In ancient cultures, like the Aztecs, the health and well-being of an unborn baby was said to be compromised if the sun was covered, causing the good-natured astral deities to turn into monsters.
This belief, although not rooted in science, relates to a modern misconception about eclipses and pregnancy risks which says, “harmful radiations are emitted during a total solar eclipse.” This is not true.
Solar eclipses do create a level of radiation, called neutrinos, that travel to Earth from the sun. After passing through the moon and reaching Earth, trillions of these particles hit our bodies regardless of whether the sun is visible on the horizon.
Interactive Map: When does the eclipse start for you?
Although this sounds like it could be harmful to the body, NASA assured that it is not.
“The only consequence is that every few minutes a few atoms in your body are transmuted into a different isotope by absorbing a neutrino,” said NASA. “This is an entirely harmless effect and would not harm you, or if you are pregnant, the developing fetus.”
Eclipses indicate that something bad will happen
A solar eclipse, in ancient cultures, had a variety of different negative interpretations and omens attached. This could include events that took place years after an eclipse occurred.
According to Olivia Waxman at TIME Magazine, the death of King Henry I in 1135, two years after an eclipse, is a specific case that people believed was caused by these celestial events.
But NASA said this is simply a result of confirmation bias, which is defined by Brittanica as, “people’s tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with their existing beliefs.”
Confirmation bias can be seen in the historical documentation of solar eclipses because many coincide with other negative historical events. For example, a revolt in the ancient city of Ashur, now known as Qal’at Sherqat in Iraq, was linked in Assyrian records to a solar eclipse in 763 B.C.
This event, although not proven or disproven to have a direct correlation with solar eclipses, is an example of our common desire, as humans, to seek patterns in daily and historical life.
Confirmation bias has also been seen in other misconceptions about solar eclipses. According to NASA, the myth that solar eclipses foreshadow major life changes and events, or that they are a sign of impending bad health if landing on or six months after your birthday, is not proven by science and is merely considered a coincidence.
Weather conditions will change during the solar eclipse
Historically, the corona of the sun has always been seen during a total solar eclipse
The corona of the sun is the “uppermost portion of the Sun’s atmosphere,” according to the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research, and looks like “wisps of plasma” during a total solar eclipse. It is not typically seen because of the sun’s bright surface, and is an exciting sight when a total solar eclipse occurs.
However, throughout history and the study of the moon, there has hardly been any mention or no mention at all of the sun’s corona, which contrasts prior beliefs.
According to NASA, Archilochus, a Greek poet, failed to mention the sun’s corona when talking about a solar eclipse in 647 B.C.E. He said, “There is nothing beyond hope, nothing that can be sworn impossible, nothing wonderful, since Zeus, father of the Olympians, made night from mid-day, hiding the light of the shining Sun, and sore fear came upon men.”
The modern-day understanding of the sun’s corona was not mentioned until May 3, 1715, when Astronomer Edmund Halley described the corona as a “luminous ring of pale whiteness.”
This could prove the corona hasn’t always been observed and/or documented in history, and according to NASA, also begs the question, “did the sun go through a thousand-year period of not having a significant corona at all?”
The world may never know.
Solar Eclipse Viewing Guide for Kansas City
There are several other myths and misconceptions attached to a solar eclipse. Whether it’s described as retaliation from an angry god, a bad omen or thoroughly explained by scientific research, the sheer magnitude and importance of these celestial events is easily observed throughout history.
For more information about the 2024 solar eclipse, tune into FOX4 for the latest coverage.
