TBC Leonardo's Notebook: An Eclipse of a Lifetime


	Leonardo's Notebook A Scientist's Jottings on Faith

The Final Eclipse

At approximately 11.11 am (BST) on Wednesday 11 August 1999, there was the last total eclipse of the Sun of the second millennium. Total eclipses are not rare on a global scale, but they are quite rare at any particular place. So this eclipse was a once in a lifetime experience for almost everyone in Britain - the last total solar eclipse to touch these islands was in 1927 and the next will not be until 2090.

In earlier millennia and earlier centuries the eclipse would have been unexpected (except to a few astronomers) and would have been interpreted as having mystical significance. But today almost everyone sees an eclipse merely as the result of an amazing coincidence in the size and orbits of the sun, earth and moon. Each eclipse is explained and interpreted, illustrated and analysed by a variety of scientific authorities¹.

But all the explanation and interpretation does not remove the wonder of the experience. Indeed, James Dalrymple writing on the front page of the Independent newspaper the following day said "As an experience, it went far beyond the religious or the spiritual"². He was clearly struggling to attribute wonder to the clockwork without entering the realm of the mystic!

The fact is that no-one can ignore a total eclipse of the Sun when it happens. The daily and annual solar cycles are usually taken for granted, so an interruption to the normal pattern, be it ever so brief, is a dramatic event. And when, as with a total solar eclipse, the sun is replaced in the sky by a black disc surrounded by the brilliant colours of the solar corona³, no wonder we stop and stare. Mystic, rationalist, and journalist are all awed by the sudden glimpse into the normally hidden workings of the universe.

But just think how it would feel if the solar eclipse were reversed: if we normally lived and worked under the solar corona but once a century were exposed to the full power of the sun; then we would surely all be burnt and blinded unless we managed to hide from the sun's power.

Yet that is how many are in their relationship with God. They have totally eclipsed Him from their lives and they live in self-imposed semi-darkness. But at the end of time we will all be exposed to the radiance of His full glory. No-one will be comfortable in His presence, for the ultimate reality goes "far beyond the religious or the spiritual". Those who have eclipsed His reality from their lives will struggle to live when His reality eclipses them.

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	References 1. See, for example, eclipse information at Skylook 2. The Independent, page 1, 12 August 1999 3. See ESA's SOHO Mission for images of the solar corona.
	Leonardo is the pseudonym of a committed Christian who has extensive scientific qualifications having worked in the UK and abroad as an academic researcher, university lecturer, and as an adviser to government. The views expressed in this series of essays are not necessarily endorsed by Teddington Baptist Church. © Teddington Baptist Church 1999-2002 index