I hope you all got to see the total eclipse of the moon tonight. Even though the moon is completely blocked from the sun by the Earth's shadow it still has a red tint because our atmosphere scatters the sunlight, allowing only the longer wavelengths of light on the infrared end of the spectrum to pass through. It's been overcast and rainy in the Bay Area lately but here's a shot of it I found online. Beautiful.
Supposedly Christopher Columbus used the lack of celestial knowledge by the natives of Jamaica in 1504 to scare them into thinking he had stolen the moon from the sky. His men had been treating the natives pretty badly so they in turn cut off the food supply to the ships. Apparently Columbus then consulted his handy almanac, scheduled a meeting with their leaders and SNAP!, made it disappear right before their eyes. And of course when he gave it back they were all too willing to once again get with the program.
I would assume that this story or another like it was part of the inspiration for the actions of Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee. Oh, and if you missed the eclipse today there is another one coming up on December 21, 2010. Mark your calendars.
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