Observations of solar eclipses in russia: between the chronicles and the first scientific expeditions (18ʰᵗ – 19ʰᵗ Centuries)

A solar eclipse is a rare and spectacular celestial event that has a powerful emotional impact on people and is often reflected in their writings and communications. The reports of eclipse observations are contained in the 10^th–17^ʰᵗ century Russian chronicles. Modern observation reports, starting wiʰᵗ the 1887 eclipse, have also been well studied. In the intermediate period, starting from 1706, however, only three eclipses (1748, 1842 and 1851) have been described in publicly available sources despite the fact that 30 total and annular eclipses passed through Russia during this period. Using a computer program, the regions and time intervals were identified to search for the mentions of such eclipses. Possible sources include memoirs, reports and other documents written by educated people – participants in all kinds of campaigns, voyages, and expeditions, not necessarily the astronomical ones. As a result of studying diverse sources, a number of valuable reports of eclipse observations were discovered. Most often, these are the observations of eyewitnesses who had accidentally happened to be in the eclipse path. The firstly discovered materials shed light on the level of astronomical knowledge among various groups of the Russian population as well as equipment available to them, and touch upon the issues of local peoples’ superstitions and prejudices. A periodization of solar eclipse observations is also proposed.