Could ancient astronomers during the 5th century BC have predicted solar eclipses?
Lunar eclipses could have been predicted with some ease because the footprint of the lunar eclipse zone upon the Earth, the eclipse track, covers many thousands of kilometers. Solar eclipses require a precise mathematical knowledge of the orbit of the Moon and Earth which was well beyond what ancient astronomers had at their disposal. In fact, if I am not mistaken,accurate SOLAR eclipses were only predicted within the last few hundred years or so. There is one instance of a greek astronomer…Aristotle?…having predicted a solar eclipse by some numerical forecast involving the Saros period, but it was a one-shot and lucky prediction that was never repeated.
