The armies battled beneath the hot Sun. Neither side seemed to be winning. It was May 28, 585 BCE, the sixth year of war between the Lydians and the Medes in what is now Turkey. Suddenly, the light grew thin, and the air turned cold. A hole appeared in the sky where the Sun should be, surrounded by a halo of light. Surely, this was a sign from the gods that they should make peace.
A total eclipse of the Sun, as those ancient armies witnessed, could be frightening if you didn’t know it was coming. That fear could even stop a war! Nowadays, we know what causes eclipses. We can predict when and where they’ll happen, down to the minute and mile. Instead of frightening people, an eclipse can bring millions of us together in a wondrous moment of awe.
What Causes an Eclipse?
Earth orbits the Sun, and the Moon orbits Earth. The Moon passing between the Sun and Earth
