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Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i++] = new Array("","Introduction","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/090721-space-eclipse09-130p.hmedium.jpg","","Image: 2009 eclipse", "", "", "", "", "", "", "NASA", "273", "364", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">Introduction</p></b><p><br><a href=\"http://www.msnbc.com\"> <img src=\" http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/Art/source-msnbc-com-newlogo.gif\" align=\"center\" border=0></a><br ALIGN=LEFT><i>By John Roach, contributor</i><br></BR><br>The new moon will temporarily blot out the sun on July 22, 2009, turning day into night for observers along a path that arcs from India, through China and into the Pacific. For most people, the chance to view a total eclipse is a rare, once-in-a-lifetime event: Any given patch of Earth will host one only about once every 375 years on average. This image shows the path of totality for the July 22 eclipse in dark blue. Click on the \"Next\" arrow above to learn about eight memorable eclipses of the past.";

Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i++] = new Array("","2134 B.C.: First documented eclipse","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo/_new/080730_eclipse2136.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "F. Espenak  NASA  GSFC", "198", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">2134 B.C.: First documented eclipse</p></b><p><br>Oct. 22, 2134 B.C., is the most likely date for the first documented solar eclipse, which darkened the skies over ancient China. According to a legend, the official imperial astrologers His and Ho failed to predict the event &#8212; and paid for the miss with their heads. A widespread belief at the time was that an invisible dragon devoured the sun during an eclipse. Had the astrologers issued a proper warning, drummers and archers would have been better positioned to fight the dragons and restore the sunlight. ";

Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i++] = new Array("","1178 B.C.: The Odyssey eclipse","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080623/080623-science-odysseus-hmed-2p.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Gustav Schwab via FromOldBooks.org", "261", "423", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">1178 B.C.: The Odyssey eclipse</p></b><p><br>Does the Odyssey, an epic poem attributed to the Greek poet Homer, describe a real-world solar eclipse that obliterated the sun from the sky at noon on April 16, 1178 B.C.? An eclipse is described on the day Odysseus returns to his wife Penelope after 10 years at sea and defeats her suitors, as shown in this image. Scientists have debated whether Homer refers to the April 16 event. The controversial idea was given new legs this June when researchers published a paper that links other astronomical references in the text to real-world alignments of the stars, planets and moon. Taken together, only the April 16 eclipse date fits. If correct, the finding suggests the ancient Greeks had a more sophisticated understanding of astronomy than previously believed.";

Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i++] = new Array("","585 B.C.: Battle of the eclipse","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo/_new/080730_eclipse2-584.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "F. EspenakNASAGSFC", "198", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">585 B.C.: Battle of the eclipse</p></b><p><br>According to the Greek historian Herodotus, a scientist named Thales of Milte predicted a full solar eclipse in 585 B.C. The event most likely occurred on May 28, when the skies darkened over a battlefield in modern-day Turkey. There, the Lydians and Medes were in the midst of a years-long war. The armies, likely unaware of Thales' prediction, apparently took the eclipse as a sign. They dropped their weapons and made peace. A river near the battlefield became the border between the Middle Eastern kingdoms, according to historical accounts.";

Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i++] = new Array("","840: Eclipse splits empire","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo/_new/080730-Carolingian_Empire_map.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Wikipedia", "273", "384", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">840: Eclipse splits empire</p></b><p><br>Emperor Louis of Bavaria, the son of the great European ruler Charlemagne, apparently was so frightened by the sight of an eclipse on May 5, 840, that he died shortly afterwards. His death prompted a battle for the throne among his three sons &#8212; Lothair, Ludwig the German and Charles the Bald. The resolution came with the Treaty of Verdun, which partitioned the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms seen on the map here.";

Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i++] = new Array("","1868: Helium discovered","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo/_new/080730_eclipse-helium02.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "F. EspenakNASAGSFC", "198", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">1868: Helium discovered</p></b><p><br>In 1868, French astronomer Pierre Janssen traveled to India to view the Aug. 18 solar eclipse. He studied the spectacle through a spectroscope, which separates each element into its unique set of spectral lines. He was surprised to see a bright yellow line that didn't match any known element. A few months later, British astronomer Norman Lockyear also saw the yellow line in the solar spectrum and concluded it must be from an unknown element. As it turns out, the scientists were looking at helium. The element was found on Earth nearly 30 years later in the mineral uranium. Helium is named after the Greek word for sun &#8212; \"helios.\" ";

Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i++] = new Array("","1919: General relativity proven","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070812/070812_dark_vmed_2p.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "AP", "278", "278", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">1919: General relativity proven</p></b><p><br>May 29, 1919, goes down in the history books as the day a solar eclipse was used to confirm Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity by showing how gravity bends light. At the time, the sun was among the most massive objects known in the sky. If relativity theory was correct, scientists hypothesized that stars in the background of the sun observed during an eclipse should be in slightly different positions than they are during times of the year when the sun is far away. Scientific expeditions sent out to conduct this experiment found the light bending to be true. Today this effect is used to infer the presence of dark matter, which bends the light of the background galaxies as shown in this image.";

Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i++] = new Array("","1973: The Concorde extended eclipse","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/migrated_media/031105_concorde_bcol.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Graeme Robertson", "Getty Images", "273", "348", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">1973: The Concorde extended eclipse</p></b><p><br>Eclipse fans will spend days of their lives and thousands of dollars for the chance to view the sun blotted from the sky for a few minutes &#8212; if clouds don't get in the way. In 1973, an international team of astronomers thwarted the limitations of time and weather by watching the eclipse from the comfort of the 001 Concorde prototype. The supersonic aircraft chased the June 30 eclipse over Africa at Mach 2.05, extending the unobstructed viewing time to 74 minutes of totality, instead of the mere seven minutes seen from the ground. In this image, fans of the retired supersonic fleet wave goodbye.";

Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i++] = new Array("","1999: The world didn't end","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo/_new/albers_eclipse_mir_lrg.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "NASA", "273", "364", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_8Eclipses_080731[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">1999: The world didn't end</p></b><p><br>On Aug. 11, 1999, perhaps the most people ever witnessed a solar eclipse, the last one of the second millennium, as the path of totality swept over densely populated regions of Europe, the Middle East and India. Despite the prognostications of doomsayers, the world did not end. Instead, millions watched as the moon blocked the sun's light from reaching Earth. Even astronauts aboard Russia's Mir space station were treated to the show, as shown in this image.";

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