#eclipses

For many years I have believed that Jesus died on April 6, 33 A.D. I was pleased when I read this 1984 Oxford University article.

Four dates have been proposed by scholars as the historical date of the Crucifixion of Christ, but only one--Friday, April 3, in the year 33 A.D.--is backed up by astronomical history, two Oxford University scientists say.

• Colin J. Humphreys and W.G. Waddington, writing in the prestigious British journal Nature, present fresh evidence that the Crucifixion took place on the first Friday of April, 33, based on a calculation that a partial eclipse of the moon could be seen in Jerusalem on that date. Humphreys and Waddington say that this eclipse appeared to be "blood red" and followed a dust storm that "darkened the sun," just as the apostles said in the Gospels.

• "Presumably, this eclipse was considered irrelevant to the date of the Crucifixion since it was believed to be invisible from Jerusalem," the two Oxford scientists declare. "However, the more accurate calculations presented here prove that this eclipse was visible."