Could a solar eclipse mean anything?

Question

I always thought that eclipses and full moons meant something, like God is bringing us closer to him or another magical miracle for you is waiting around the corner.If someone has the same feeling please tell me what you think. I made a wish on www.real-wishes.com a few days ago and today, I found out there is going to be a solar eclipse on August 1st. Does this mean something, please don't answer if you are going to be a snob about it. I am very obsrvant and when blue moons or some thing that happends different in the patterns of the moons or planets, a miracle happens to me. JUST DONT START TELLING ME IT IS A COINCIDENCE.

Answer 1

What you describe is exactly astrology (not astronomy).

A long time ago, before humans understood how things worked, they could not understand how the planets could move if nothing was pushing them.  After all, on Earth it was obvious that if something moved, it is because it was pushed (or pulled).

So they imagined that gods (later, angels) were pushing the planets.  And because WE were so important, it was obvious that the gods were using the planets to write messages in the sky for us to decipher.

In the 17th century (1600s), some scientists began to look for natural reasons why the sky was behaving the way it did.  After very precise observations (started by Brahe and compiled by Kepler), Isaac Newton explained how gravity was responsible for the movement of the planets.

No need for gods or angels.  No messages.

That is when astronomy and astrology separated.

As for miracles, a necessary part of a miracle is that it should be unexplainable.  If you explain it, it is no longer a miracle.

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In astronomy, the solar eclipse is a regular event that can be easily explained.  It does not happen often, but it is still regular.  Even the classical Greek astronomers (thousands of years ago) were able to predict them.

In astrology, obviously the gods/angels/planets are trying to tell us something.

In religion, God gives you a miracle if you need one.  God does not have to wait for any external event nor for anyone's permission.

Answer 2

Well, first off, I think what you may be speaking of is astrology and not astronomy.  The difference is that one who studies astrology, studies how the stars within the zodiac (and there are 13 constellations, with many stars in each constellation) could conceivably forecast ones future, past, or present.  As a matter of fact, I've been told that the past is history, the future is mystery, and the present is now, and zest, keep it holy, and use the time well.  The Zodiac is a portion of the sky within which the sun travels along the ecliptic.  The ecliptic is a path where eclipse's can happen.   All the planets can travel along the ecliptic.

I don't believe that the solar eclipse foretells of anything, especially where this one is going to be, in Siberia, Russia and along the plane where people would normally see the midnight sun (north of Siberia).  Okay, so I don't believe, but then who exactly am I, a nobody, a nothing, to you, especially.  Therefore, rock on, or whatever, you "go girl" and you believe what you want to believe,

Astrology was studied first and then along comes other sciences, Astronomy being only one of them.    

A person who studies astronomy is one who learns from the stars about the universe and how it effects human beings.  Among many, many other things.  Both are honorable professions

Answer 3

A solar eclipse means that the moon in on the eclipic at the same time that the sun is at that position on the ecliptic.

These things can be predicted a hundred years in advance.

Answer 4

An eclipse is not a sign from God or Satan or any other imaginative made up being.  Sorry.  And I'm not being a snob.  All it means is that the moon is lined up between the Sun and Earth and that the moons shadow will be somewhere on Earth.

Answer 5

We have known for some time that there will be a Solar eclipse on August 1st.  The only thing it means is that the moon is blocking the light from the Sun as it passes between the Sun and the Earth.  We have them every few years.

"Total solar eclipses can be expected about every year and a half or so, but in any one calendar year, there are at least two and as many as five solar eclipses ... these can be partial, total and annular (see description under image) and often only visible from isolated regions of the Earth, which is why they seem so infrequent. In fact, solar eclipses outnumber lunar eclipses by almost 5 to 3, if you ignore the penumbral lunar eclipses that are essentially unobservable."

I'm not being a snob about it.  You have a right to believe that it signifies a miracle for you.

Answer 6

Dill Weed thinks that if something happens to you, and you feel it's important, then pay attention, hold on to your feelings...

Answer 7

they mean nothing at all. this isn't snobbish; it's reality. when the sun, moon and earth line up a particular way eclipses happen. in our epoch the angular sizes are such that the effects are spectacular. truly spectacular (have you seen a total solar eclipse?), but any deeper meaning is superstitious nonsense.

there was an annular eclipse the day i was born. it doesn't seem to have changed my life much - but how could i ever know?

Answer 8

If the Earth's equatorial plane were not inclined 23.45° to the plane of the ecliptic, and if the Moon's orbit around Earth were not inclined 5° to the plane of the ecliptic, we would have a solar and a lunar eclipse every  lunar month, and they would not be special events at all.  Neither would we observe a full Moon at all, because the full Moon would always be obscured by Earth's shadow.  There would be no seasons, so there would be no 13 different names for the Full Moon.

The Sun has an apparent angular diameter of 31.6' - 32.7', while the Moon has an apparent angular diameter of 29.3' - 34.1'.  Without this interesting coincidence only one of the two bodies could ever be totally eclipsed.

Blue moons are a result of our calendar. All but one month have 30 or more days, and the synodic period of the Moon is 29.530588 days.  This means that there is a certainty that some month will have 2 Full Moons, the 2nd of which is called a Bllue Moon.  The variation between 30-day and 31-day months and the closeness of the synodic period of the Moon to 30 days ensures that Blue Moons are relatively rare events.

If you are experiencing miracles at all or any of these events you are an exceedingly fortunate person.  Please remember that there are nearly 8,000,000,000 people on the Earth, each of whom experiences each and every one of these events.  While I believe God can provide miracles to all of these people at all of these events, there is no evidence that He (or She) does, and overwhelming evidence, including Scriptural, that God does not work according to any timetable devised by us.