The Moon is our faithful companion during night time, as it’s the brightest cosmic object from the night sky. There are countless stories, myths, and legends linked to our natural satellite, as it couldn’t be otherwise. But also, there are plenty of scientific facts and theories.
About a millennia ago, more precisely in A.D. 1110, the Moon simply vanished from the sky. Or at least, that’s what a scribe in medieval England is claiming, along with other dreadful aspects for that year: famine, torrential rainfall damaging the crops, and more.
Volcanic eruptions represented the culprit
A study published in the journal Scientific Reports blames the volcanoes for both the floods and the disappearance of the Moon. The authors wrote the following:
The spectacular atmospheric optical phenomena associated with high-altitude volcanic aerosols have caught the attention of chroniclers since ancient times,
Careful evaluation of ice core records points to the occurrence of several closely spaced volcanic eruptions,
The volcanic eruptions were vaguely documented by historians, and that’s why the hypothesis arises only now. Those eruptions could have released huge amounts of ash that traveled around the world for several years. A high-altitude of ash obscured the sight of the Moon and also the stars. Powerful eruptions could also have disrupted the global climate, causing the numerous floods that ruined the lives of many in A.D. 1110.
The scenario is highly plausible, as huge amounts of dust and ashes released in the atmosphere could also block the sunlight. And without the Sun, life itself gets affected. It happened over 60 million years ago when the dinosaurs got extinct. The asteroid that hit the Earth in today’s Yucatan peninsula from Mexico caused the release of the tremendously huge clouds of dust into the atmosphere. Of course, that was another story, but still relevant for getting an idea of how much damage can be caused if it’s too much toxic waste around.
There you have it: no ghosts or demons, caused the Moon to disappear from the sky, as inhabitants from A.D. 1110 initially thought.
