Atri's Eclipse is a total

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

mentioned in the Indian text Rigaveda. It has been claimed by some modern astronomical scholars to be the earliest reference of the solar eclipse mentioned in any historical astronomy of the world. The claim for the earliest reference of the total solar eclipse was published in a paper by the

Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage The ''Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal. As of 2021, the journal is published four times per year and is logged through the Astrophysics Data System. It publishes research papers, reviews, short co ...

Etymology

The text Rigaveda doesn't directly mention the word Atri's Eclipse but it has been termed by the modern scholars to identify the total solar eclipse mentioned in the text Rigaveda by the sage Atri in the form of poetic

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

s. Indian scholar

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokamānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence ...

in his commentary on Vedic literature mentioned Atri's Eclipse to identify the total solar eclipse in the Rigaveda mentioned by the Vedic sage

Atri Atri or Attri is a Vedic sage, who is credited with composing numerous shlokas to Agni, Indra, and other Vedic deities of Hinduism. Atri is one of the Saptarishi (seven great Vedic sages) in the Hindu tradition, and the one most mentioned in ...

. Similarly ''Robert Garfinkle'' in his book ''Luna Cognita'' also discussed about the Atri's Eclipse.

Background

In the text Rigaveda, there is a story of the sage

who demolished an asura Swarbhanu for the liberation of the sun from a total solar eclipse. In the story it is said that due to the influence of the asura, the sun suddenly disappeared during the day and made people feel scared in the darkness. Then the sage Atri demolished the asura Swarbhanu and regained the glory of sun. The language of the Rigaveda is very symbolic having hidden meaning, making it difficult to comprehend in the form of historical events. Although the disappearing of the sun in the story has been interpreted by the astronomers as the total solar eclipse. The Chapter 24 verse 3 in the text ''

Sankhyayana Brahmana Sankhyayana Brahmana (Sanskrit: शाङ्खायनब्राह्मणम्) ( Romanised: Śāṅkhyāyana Brāhmaṇa) is an ancient ''Brahmana'' text of Rigveda. It is also called the ''Kaushitaki Brahmana''. The text is associated w ...

'' of Rigaveda mentions the location of the rising Sun during the spring equinox in its passages. In one reference there is a description of the spring equinox occurring in Orion, and in another description it occurred in the

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as Seven Sisters and Messier 45 (M45), is an Asterism (astronomy), asterism of an open cluster, open star cluster containing young Stellar classification#Class B, B-type stars in the northwest of the constellation Tau ...

. These descriptions have been used as the bases for the calculation of the dates of the ''Atri's Eclipse''.

Description

According to the paper published in the

, the Indian astronomer ''Mayank Vahia'' from

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a leading research Institute under the Department of Atomic Energy of the Government of India. It is a public deemed university located at Navy Nagar, Colaba in Mumbai. It also has a centres in ...

and the Japanese astronomer ''Misturu Soma'' from

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan The (NAOJ) is an astronomy, astronomical research organisation comprising several facilities in Japan, as well as an observatory in Hawaii and Chile. It was established in 1988 as an amalgamation of three existing research organizations - the To ...

have found the reference of the earliest total solar eclipse in the text Rigaveda mentioned by the Vedic sage

.{{Cite news, title=The oldest known solar eclipse occurred 6000 years ago: The Rig Veda carries mention of it, url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/htcity/the-rig-veda-carries-mention-of-the-oldest-known-solar-eclipse-dated-6000-years-ago-what-was-the-exact-date-101725437624004.html, work=Hindustan Times, access-date=2024-09-08 According to Tilak 's interpretation the eclipse occurred when the Vernal equinox was in Orion, and three days prior to the Autumnal equinox. The astronomers Mayank Vahia and Misturu Soma have identified the date of the solar eclipse as on 22 October 4202 BC or on 19 October 3811 BC. The astronomers have also claimed that the story of the Atri's Eclipse is different and older from the general stories of

Rahu Rāhu (Sanskrit: राहु, 16px, ☊) is one of the nine major celestial bodies ( navagraha) in Hindu texts and the king of meteors. It represents the ascension of the Moon in its precessional orbit around the Earth, also referred to as ...

and Ketu for the eclipses in the ''Hindu mythology''.

References

History of astronomy Indian astronomy texts