Identifying Atmospheric Wonders in Medieval Manuscripts

When: Tuesday 07 July, 19.00-20.30
Where: Michael Sadler Building: Rupert Beckett Theatre
Open to: All Welcome (IMC Delegates and the Public)
Price: Free
How to Book: No Booking Required, Free of Charge

Talk by Kristine Larsen

'A wonderful crown appeared around the sun'

Why do medieval manuscripts mention multiple suns, fake dawns, and haloes around the moon? Why were pillars of light described in the sky long before the invention of the search light? Sun dogs, multiple rainbows, balls of lightning - are these medieval myth or historical events carefully (as well as not colourfully) chronicled?

Medieval skies offered up many wonders, from sunrise to sunset, and beyond. While celestial objects beyond our terrestrial spheres, such as comets and eclipses, certainly captured the medieval imagination, so, too, did myriad wonders much closer to home, no farther than our own atmosphere.

Astronomy professor Kristine Larsen (Central Connecticut State University) takes you on a journey through the sky above us as medieval eyes and minds would have experienced it, explaining the cause of these phenomena and surveying the beliefs concerning them found in medieval chronicles and other literature.

Kristine Larsen has published numerous articles on science pedagogy, science and literature, and the history of women in astronomy. She also regularly presents and writes about the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, often with an emphasis on the astronomy and cosmology of Middle-earth. She has given introductions to the medieval astrolabe at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University for several years, as well as numerous other universities and educational centres.