Watching Apocalypto.
The tribe of Jaguar Paw is brought to the Mayan sacrifice at the same time as a solar eclipse. (Meaning that Earth's moon is passing between Earth's sun and Earth. I never expected to have to explain that.)
His wife, trapped in a pit since the village was raided by Mayans, is shown to kill a monkey during a full moon.
That's two weeks difference from an eclipse.
Jaguar Paw is show to be chased by the Mayans continuously since he was "released".
Two weeks have not passed.
Eclipses occur during new moons, not full moons.
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"Eclipses occur during new moons, not full moons." I'm not very good at astronomy but this doesn't make sense to me. First, logically, how can you see a lunar eclipse during a new moon when you have an essentially dark, invisible, moon. Second, I just checked and the two lunar eclipses in 2020 (Jan 11 and Jun 5) occurred during a full moon. What am I missing?
ReplyDeleteFull moon is when the sun and moon are opposite each other in the sky.
DeleteNew moon is when the sun and moon are with each other. You don't see it at night because it's below the horizon with the sun.
Thag's talking about a _solar_ eclipse. The Wikipedia link explains that.
ReplyDeleteFrom Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse
ReplyDelete"A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow.[1] This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned (in syzygy) with Earth between the other two, and only on the night of a full moon."
I found that hard to read because I know absolutely nothing about Apocalypto. Then I got the impression that the "Mayan sacrifice at the same time as an eclipse" must have meant a solar eclipse. There could be a solar eclipse on the new moon and lunar eclipse on the full moon before or after the solar eclipse, so within two weeks of each other, but not a solar and lunar eclipse in the same 24 hours.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be more clear to say, "solar eclipses happen during new moons".
I'm confusing myself writing this. Does that make sense? Am I right that you were referring to a solar eclipse?
I guess it helps if you've seen the film.
DeleteJaguar Paw escapes the same day as a solar eclipse in the Mayan city.
The way the film is shot, it cannot be more than a day before he's back on his own stomping grounds where his wife was looking out of hole she was hiding in at the full moon.
While I suppose that it took two weeks to get from the village to the Mayan city and another two to get back... That leaves the problem of why she's and her kid are still alive without food or water.