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On April 8, 2024, millions in the path of totality experienced momentary darkness and, for some, a moment of transcendence.

Michael Grady and Joan Friedman were two of many eclipse-watchers who traveled to Carbondale, Ill., to witness the total solar eclipse on April 8.

An annular solar eclipse, when the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun when it is at or close to its furthest point from the Earth, cast shadows across the Americas on Oct. 14.

A rare hybrid solar eclipse reached totality over Exmouth, a small town in Western Australia, on April 20.

As one of the greatest astronomical spectacles, total solar eclipses have long been a subject of scientific interest and have been recorded by numerous civilizations over the millennia. These records are an essential reference for constraining and reconstructing Earth’s variable rotation (Δ T ) prior to the 17th century. However, Δ T reconstructions for the 4th–7th centuries have significant uncertainties, mainly owing to a data scarcity. Here, we analyze Byzantine historical sources with reports of total solar eclipses along the Eastern Mediterranean coasts and add probable Δ T constraints on their basis. We examined five cases of total solar eclipses in 346, 418, 484, 601, and 693 CE, identified times and locations of the observations, and compared them with the existing Δ T spline curve to derive new Δ T constraints. Our results probably tighten Δ T variability in 346 CE, show a larger Δ T range in 418 CE, and give smaller Δ T ranges in 484, 601, and 693 CE. Our study tightens the existing Δ T variations and occasionally support some Δ T constraints that slightly depart from the Δ T spline curve in the latest reconstructions. Our results are consistent with contemporary Δ T constraints from other studies and offer an improved understanding of Earth’s variable rotation.

This compendium is both coherent and straightforward. It is a comprehensive guidebook about the occurrence of Solar and Lunar eclipses. This work appeals to a wide spectrum of professionals such as scholars and researchers, as well as, amateur astronomers and. hobbyists.

Solar astronomer Maria Kazachenko and her colleagues traveled to Eagle Pass, Tex., to observe the total solar eclipse on April 8.

In case you don't have a pair of eclipse glasses, don't worry. You can build a pinhole projector to safely observe April 8's total solar eclipse.