Discovery Board

Clues from people

Something people wrote down or told long ago: a chronicle, a diary, a story, a carving.

From people From nature

The broken sky patched with stones: the Chinese story of Nuwa mending heaven · Chinese, Manchu, Tibetan Do myths remember meteorite impacts?

1223 BC Ugarit tablet KTU 1.78: 'the sun went in' with Rashap as her gatekeeper · Ugaritic When and why did the Late Bronze Age cities fall (about 1200 to 1180 BC)?

1207 BC Joshua 10:12-13: the Sun 'stood' at Gibeon, the Moon in the valley of Aijalon, 'in the midst of heaven' · Hebrew Did Joshua's 'Sun stand still' at Gibeon remember a solar eclipse?

1178 BC The Odyssey's sky clues: Pleiades and Bootes, Venus at dawn, a new Moon, Hermes' journey, and 'the Sun has perished' · Greek Does the Odyssey record the eclipse of 16 April 1178 BC?

667 BC Red glow in Assyrian astrological reports, about 679 to 655 BC · Assyrian 660 BC Miyake event

270 BC Aratus: seven named, 'only six are visible to the eyes' (3rd century BC) · Greek Why do so many cultures call the Pleiades 'seven sisters' and tell of a lost one?

5 BC Broom star in Capricorn, 5 BC, 70 days · Chinese and Korean 5 BC broom star

AD 185 Guest star in Nanmen, 185, eight months · Chinese 185 supernova

AD 369 Guest star of 369, five months · Chinese 369 guest star

AD 386 Guest star in Nandou, 386, three months · Chinese 386 guest star

AD 393 Guest star in Wei, 393 · Chinese 393 guest star

AD 774 Red crucifix after sunset, 774 · Anglo-Saxon 774 Miyake event

AD 776 Chinese sky record, 12 to 13 January 776 · Chinese 774 Miyake event

AD 837 Two guest stars of 837 · Chinese 837 guest stars

AD 850 Last dated monuments at 89 Maya cities, 711 to 910 · Classic Maya Did drought bring down the Classic Maya cities (about 750 to 910)?

AD 992 Auroras in Germany, Denmark and Ireland, 992 to 993 · European 993 Miyake event

AD 992 Korean sky record, late 992 · Korean 993 Miyake event

AD 993 Japanese court diaries: no red or white vapour in 992 to 993 · Japanese

AD 1006 Guest star of 1006 across four cultures · Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, European 1006 supernova

AD 1048 White vapour to the north, Kaifeng, 1048 · Chinese The 1052 white vapour matches the 1052 radiocarbon candidate

AD 1052 White vapour shaped like a turtle, with a blue-violet vapour inside it, Korea, 18 July 1052 · Korean 1052 carbon-14 candidate The 1052 white vapour matches the 1052 radiocarbon candidate

AD 1052 White vapour to the north, Kaifeng, 13 December 1052 · Chinese 1052 carbon-14 candidate The 1052 white vapour matches the 1052 radiocarbon candidate

AD 1053 A comet in the southern sky with a tail over 1 zhang, Korea, 25 February 1053 · Korean 1052 carbon-14 candidate

AD 1053 Two white vapours rose from the northwest and pierced the Sun, Korea, 27 January 1053 · Korean 1052 carbon-14 candidate

AD 1054 A steeple of fire seen in the air over Ros Deala, Ireland, 24 April 1054 · Irish The 1052 white vapour matches the 1052 radiocarbon candidate

AD 1054 Guest star near Tianguan, 1054, visible by day 23 days · Chinese, Japanese, Arabic 1054 supernova

AD 1054 Latin Europe recorded 1 of the 3 medieval supernovae (1006 yes; 1054, 1181 no) · European Why did Europe barely record the supernova of 1054?

AD 1098 Europe: blood-red clouds to the north on 21 September 1098, then the sky burning on 25 to 27 September · German / French A great aurora in September 1098, seen in Europe, and perhaps in Kyoto?Kyoto and Augsburg saw the same great aurora on 21 September 1098

AD 1098 Korea: nothing in the sky in the 8th month of 1098 · Korean A great aurora in September 1098, seen in Europe, and perhaps in Kyoto?

AD 1098 Kyoto: strange clouds in the northern sky and two white bands across the sky, evening of 21 September 1098 · Japanese A great aurora in September 1098, seen in Europe, and perhaps in Kyoto?Kyoto and Augsburg saw the same great aurora on 21 September 1098

AD 1109 Dark lunar eclipses in European and Japanese chronicles, 1108 to 1110 · European and Japanese 1108 to 1110 eruptions

AD 1178 Gervase of Canterbury on the moon, 1178 · English 1178 Canterbury moon

AD 1181 Guest star in Cassiopeia, 1181, 185 days · Chinese and Japanese 1181 supernova

AD 1229 The Moon went as dark as a moonless night: Fujiwara no Teika on the eclipse of 2 December 1229 · Japanese 1229 eruption (ice cores said 1230)

AD 1258 The Sun was blue and without light, then red like blood, Korea, early 1258 · Korean Can old chronicles of a dim or red Sun find eruptions the ice missed?

AD 1260 Three red glows over Korea, October to December 1260 · Korean 1261 carbon-14 candidate 1261: no sky record falls in the right window, and the obvious one was already considered

AD 1261 A heavenly dog fell in front of the Ancestral Temple, Korea, 9 March 1261 · Korean Do myths remember meteorite impacts?

AD 1261 Red glow in the northeast that lit up people, China, 9 February 1261 · Chinese 1261 carbon-14 candidate 1261: no sky record falls in the right window, and the obvious one was already considered

AD 1262 Germany: the sky toward the northwest as if burning, 1262 · German 1261 carbon-14 candidate 1261: no sky record falls in the right window, and the obvious one was already considered

AD 1262 Red vapours in the northwest and across the sky, Korea, October and December 1262 · Korean 1261 carbon-14 candidate

AD 1262 White vapour at Lin'an, 16 August 1262 · Chinese 1261: no sky record falls in the right window, and the obvious one was already considered

AD 1263 Flickering fire in the northwest and southeast, Japan, 26 to 27 February 1263 · Japanese 1261 carbon-14 candidate 1261: no sky record falls in the right window, and the obvious one was already considered

AD 1268 Red vapour in the west, Korea, 19 December 1268 · Korean 1268 carbon-14 candidate Largest of the three 13th-century candidates, 1268 to 1269 (Miyahara 2022)

AD 1269 A white band about 3 degrees wide stretched across the night sky, Korea, 15 February 1269 · Korean 1268 carbon-14 candidate

AD 1269 Krakow: an unusual cross-shaped brightness in the sky before dawn, 5 December 1269 · Polish 1268 carbon-14 candidate 1268: we thought nobody saw it, but Korea did, and it is already published

AD 1277 The night sky was red, China, 11 September 1277 · Chinese 1279 carbon-14 candidate Korea's violet glow of 25 October 1279 falls in the window for the 1279 to 1280 radiocarbon jump, and the main paper missed it

AD 1278 A sunspot as big as a hen's egg, Korea, 31 August 1278 · Korean 1279 carbon-14 candidate

AD 1278 Red glow in the south, night as bright as day, Korea, 26 March 1278 · Korean 1279 carbon-14 candidate Korea's violet glow of 25 October 1279 falls in the window for the 1279 to 1280 radiocarbon jump, and the main paper missed it

AD 1278 Red vapour across the whole sky, then a red glow bright as day, Korea, 23 and 26 March 1278 · Korean 1279 carbon-14 candidate

AD 1279 Japanese court diaries: no red or white vapour around 1279 · Japanese 1279 carbon-14 candidate

AD 1279 Violet glow in the west, its light like lightning, Korea, 25 October 1279 · Korean 1279 carbon-14 candidate Korea's violet glow of 25 October 1279 falls in the window for the 1279 to 1280 radiocarbon jump, and the main paper missed it

AD 1280 Fiery beams around the Northern Crown (Corona Borealis), 1280 · European 1279 carbon-14 candidate Korea's violet glow of 25 October 1279 falls in the window for the 1279 to 1280 radiocarbon jump, and the main paper missed it

AD 1287 The Moon showed yellow, red and many colours: Bartholomew de Cotton on the eclipse of 22 October 1287 · English 1286 eruption: a big sulfur signal that left the Moon bright The 1286 eruption really happened in 1285

AD 1373 Hirsch's table of 120 ergotism epidemics, 591 to 1879 · European What caused the dancing plagues (1374, 1518 and others)?

AD 1374 List of dancing-mania outbreaks, 1237 to 1551 · German / Low Countries What caused the dancing plagues (1374, 1518 and others)?

AD 1452 Korea: dark fogs for days on end, winter 1452 to 1453 · Korean The mystery eruption of 1452/53 and the omens at the fall of Constantinople

AD 1453 Barbaro: the Turks lit huge fires across their whole camp, 26 May 1453 · Venetian The mystery eruption of 1452/53 and the omens at the fall of Constantinople

AD 1453 Barbaro: the full Moon rose like a three-day Moon, and the air was clear as crystal, 22 May 1453 · Venetian The mystery eruption of 1452/53 and the omens at the fall of Constantinople

AD 1453 Jiangxi: 40 days of snow in spring 1453 · Chinese The mystery eruption of 1452/53 and the omens at the fall of Constantinople

AD 1453 Korea: 'the Moon was totally eclipsed', 16 November 1453 · Korean The mystery eruption of 1452/53 and the omens at the fall of Constantinople A total eclipse of the Moon on 16 November 1453, high over Korea and China

AD 1453 Kritovoulos: hailstorm during the icon procession, then a whole day of fog · Byzantine Greek The mystery eruption of 1452/53 and the omens at the fall of Constantinople The 1453 omens were made by the volcano

AD 1453 Ming China: spring snow ruins the wheat in 1453; deep snow and frozen sea in winter 1453 to 1454 · Chinese The mystery eruption of 1452/53 and the omens at the fall of Constantinople

AD 1485 Five English outbreaks, all in summer: 1485, 1508, 1517, 1528, 1551 · English English sweating sickness: what was it?Sweating sickness outbreaks followed slightly wet summers: a weak hint that did not strengthen

AD 1561 Nuremberg broadsheet, 1561 · German 1561 Nuremberg sky

AD 1572 New star of 1572 · European, Chinese, Korean 1572 supernova

AD 1576 Fourteen cocoliztli epidemics, 1545 to 1813 · Mexican (Nahua and Spanish sources) What caused the cocoliztli epidemics that killed most of Mexico's people (1545, 1576 and later)?

AD 1604 New star of 1604 · European, Chinese, Korean 1604 supernova

AD 1718 Picardy sweat: 171 dated outbreaks with their departments, 1718 to 1874 · French English sweating sickness: what was it?Sweating sickness outbreaks followed slightly wet summers: a weak hint that did not strengthen

AD 1808 Ferrer times the same eclipse from Havana, 9 May 1808 · Spanish colonial (Cuba) 1808 mystery eruption Lunar eclipses could date the 1808 eruption, if someone in the Americas described the November 1808 one

AD 1808 Silver sun over Bogota from 11 December 1808 · Colombian 1808 mystery eruption Hobbyist idea: Tambo Quemado in the Bolivian Andes was the 1808 volcano Look west of the Americas for December 1808

AD 1808 Sunset afterglows at Lima, December 1808 · Peruvian 1808 mystery eruption

AD 1808 The Korean court saw nothing odd in the sky, November 1808 to January 1809 · Korean 1808 mystery eruption

AD 1808 The Moon was orange in parts, reddish in others: Caldas on the total lunar eclipse of 9 May 1808 · Colombian 1808 mystery eruption Lunar eclipses could date the 1808 eruption, if someone in the Americas described the November 1808 one

AD 1831 Blue and green suns, 1831 · European 1831 mystery eruption

AD 1873 The 1873 inquiry's reasoning: wind 'more or less from the north', so she could not have drifted 7 deg 54 min east on the starboard tack, and 'could not have encountered any seriously heavy weather'; so she was abandoned days after the last log entry · British (Gibraltar) Why was the Mary Celeste found sailing with no one aboard (December 1872)?

AD 1908 Evenki accounts of the Tunguska blast, 1908 · Evenki and Russian 1908 Tunguska