On 5/5/1110, the Moon mysteriously disappeared

About 900 years ago, astronomers in England witnessed the strange total lunar eclipse, sometimes even causing panic. Despite the clear night sky, bright stars still adorn here but the Moon suddenly disappeared.

According to what is recorded in the document called Memorandum of Peterborough, the writer describes the Moon " completely gone, without a good light, spherical contour or whatever exists ", and this phenomenon " continued until near the morning, then [Moon] appeared whole and shining . " For centuries, no one gave a reasonable explanation for the strange phenomenon.

To explain the mysterious event taking place on 5/5/1110, a group of scientists analyzed ancient tree rings, surveyed the old ice cores and tried to find all related documents written in the old days. In a new report published in Nature, the researchers said that " a mass of forgotten ash from volcanic eruptions " occurred between 1108 and 1110, most likely originating from the mountains. Japan's Asama, created a thick layer of smog covering Europe, causing the Moon to mysteriously disappear.

" I was fortunate to have the opportunity to study ancient trees, ancient texts and data about ice cores. It feels like time travel, " said Sébastien Guillet, an ancient climatologist. from the University of Geneva and the lead author of the study, writing in an email to the press.

The research process is very long and hard; In addition to analyzing weather conditions based on ice cores and tree rings, researchers also had to look for relevant information in older documents about Europe in the 12th century, most of which was written. in Latin. " Sometimes it takes days to read old documents and find no useful information. It takes patience to do it, " Professor Guillet said.

Fortunately, research efforts that lasted from 2016 to date have achieved results.

As written in the report, " the darkest total lunar eclipse " recorded from 1600 AD is associated with large volcanic eruptions. Besides, the content in Peterborough's Chronicle describes one of the most detailed, longest total lunar eclipses that took place between 500 and 1800 AD. There are many reasons for scientists to keep an eye out for any volcanic events that took place before the strange lunar eclipse phenomenon.

Researcher Gullet and his colleagues searched for traces of volcanic activity in ancient ice cores taken from Greenland and Antarctica. They are valuable documents about the ancient Earth's climate, including volcanic eruptions capable of sending ashes around the world.

The team of scientists searched for the presence of sulfate in ice cores before and after 1110, to determine if there was any noticeable eruption around the time of the actual deviation. When compared with known data about active volcanic events that took place over the past 1,000 years, they found that the eruption matched the timing of the total lunar eclipse that was responsible for the 7th largest amount of sulfur.

To further strengthen this hypothesis, the researchers searched for additional tree rings that recorded historical events around this period. The tree ring shows that in 1109, Western Europe was cold and rainy, and it was highly likely that this weather phenomenon was caused by volcanic ash.

Other historical documents also point to extreme weather events that occurred around the 1110 mark. According to the Inisfallen Chronicle, Irish vegetarians and scapegoats aim to " neutralize heavy rain and weather." bad happens during the fall and fall . " According to the Morigny Chronicle, the famine in France has left many rich people in poverty. According to the Peterborough Chronicle, which documents the strange lunar eclipse, 1110 is " a catastrophic year ".

It is undeniable that many other complicated factors cause extreme weather events and social confusion, but Professor Guillet and his colleagues think that natural and historical evidence points to mountain eruptions. Great fire is one of the main reasons causing chaos; The suspect is the Asama volcano in Japan. According to the diary, Chūyūki, Asama erupted in 1108.

However, more studies are needed to determine the exact amount of dust covering Europe's sky that year. It is likely that Asuma is not the only crater to spit dust, but there are many other eruptions that we do not know.

This new research and hypothesis shows the intimate relationship between the planet we live on and the civilizations that dominate on the surface. A natural disaster on the other side of the ocean could completely affect the community living thousands of kilometers away, even obscuring the Moon on a starry night.

" Many volcanic eruptions that appear clearly in the ice core have not been thoroughly studied. So there is still much work to be done to understand the impact of eruptions on the climate as well as the human communities in the past." past ", concluded Sébastien Guillet.