Maps of Solar Eclipses from 2005 to 2009

In 2006, the epic Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses was published by Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus. Each of the 11,898 total, annular, annular-total, and partial solar eclipses is catalogued and mapped with an orthographic overview map.

As stated in the preface: “The primary goal of this work is to assist historians and archeologists in the identification and dating of eclipses found in references and records in antiquity.”

A secondary outcome of their work is the more accurate reckoning of the Earth’s rotation rate over millennia as compared to historical observations.

Historical records from antiquity sometimes state where a total solar eclipse was seen. Finding a matching eclipse is a canon like this is an excellent way to precisely date events in deep history.