Jakarta –
Humans have witnessed the phenomenon of eclipses for centuries, even before written history. During this long period of time our scientific understanding of various phenomena in the world has developed rapidly, including eclipses.
Because of this, many old ideas about the causes and effects of eclipses have been replaced by detailed, scientific explanations. However, some myths still seem to be very resistant to scientific explanation.
The following are nine eclipse myths that are very popular and have been refuted by science, quoted from the NASA website.
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1. The myth of a solar eclipse causes blindness
During a total solar eclipse, when the Moon’s disk completely covers the Sun, the Sun’s corona emits only electromagnetic radiation, although sometimes with a greenish tint.
Scientists have studied this radiation for centuries. Being a million times fainter than light from the Sun itself, no amount of coronal light can traverse 150 million kilometers of space, penetrate our dense atmosphere, and cause blindness.
However, if you look at the Sun before the totality phase, you will see a glimpse of the Sun’s brilliant surface and this can cause retinal damage.
However, humans will naturally respond by looking away or closing their eyes to protect their eyes before serious damage actually occurs.
2. The eclipse myth harms the fetus
This myth mentions dangerous radiation emitted during a total solar eclipse and endangering pregnant women and the fetus they are carrying.
Although electromagnetic radiation from the corona, which is visible as light, is very safe, there are other forms of radiation that travel to Earth from the Sun.
Deep in the Sun’s interior where nuclear fusion occurs to illuminate the Sun, particles called neutrinos are born, and glide unimpeded away from the Sun and into space.
These particles also pass through the solid body of the Moon during the eclipse and a second later reach the Earth and pass through it too. Every second, our bodies are pelted by trillions of these neutrinos, no matter whether the Sun is above or below the horizon.
The only consequence is that every few minutes some atoms in our body are transmuted into different isotopes by absorbing neutrinos.
3. The myth of the eclipse poisoning food
Related to the erroneous belief about dangerous sunlight is that during a total solar eclipse, it is said that some types of radiation produced will harm food.
If so, the same radiation should be able to damage food in the kitchen or crops in the fields. If someone accidentally got food poisoning during the eclipse, some people might attribute it to the phenomenon. In fact, many people in the same location do not experience this.
4. The myth of an eclipse is a bad sign
The classic myth that eclipses are a sign that something bad will happen is confirmed by psychologists as confirmation bias.
That is, we tend to remember all the occasions when two things happen together, but forget all the other times when they don’t. This gives us a biased view of cause and effect that we easily remember, because the human brain tends to look for, and remember, patterns that can be used as rules of thumb for survival.
Total solar eclipses are not often recorded in historical records, but tend to be recorded when they coincide with other historical events that are considered negative. For example, in 763 BC, early Assyrian records linked an eclipse to an uprising in the city of Ashur, now known as Qal’at Sherqat in Iraq. This shows that ancient people connected the two in their minds.
Or when King Henry I of England, son of William the Conqueror, died in 1133 AD, the event coincided with a total solar eclipse.
Next: No Eclipse at the Pole is a Sign of Health
2023-10-14 14:15:53
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