To the ancient Chinese, the eclipse was a sun-eating dragon which had to be chased away with clashing cymbals and pans. In Hindu mythology, a spiteful demon called Rahu takes a bite out of the Sun from time to time.
The first known record of an eclipse was made in the reign of Zhong Kang, the fourth emperor of China's Xia dynasty.
Because we know that several solar eclipses took place around that time, astronomers are uncertain of the exact date when this event took place - it could be 2128 or 2134 BC.
But even then, the brief text shows that the eclipse was clearly mind-blasting.
'In the fifth year of Zhong Kang, in the autumn, in the ninth month, on the first day of the month, there was an eclipse of the Sun, when he ordered the Prince of Yin to lead the imperial forces to punish Hsi and Ho,' says the record.
Hsi and Ho, according to legend, are two astrologers of the Imperial Court who were beheaded because they had failed to warn the boss that the Sun would be blotted out.
Today, a total solar eclipse remains a stunning sight and a humbling reminder of human puniness, but mathematics have taken the sting out of superstition.
Eclipses occur because of a weird symmetry. The Sun is 400 times wider than the Moon, but it is also 400 times farther away. As a result, when the Moon is perfectly in line between the Earth and the Sun, for those in the complete lunar shadow, the entire solar surface is covered.
The Sun turns black, leaving just a golden halo. The stars are blotted out and the sky turns indigo.
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