June 18, 1178 - The day the Moon exploded

 The moon is undoubtedly one of the most enigmatic objects in the sky. Thousands of years ago, ancient civilizations watched the sky, gazing in awe at Earth's faithful companion. Since time immemorial, the moon has also been the subject of numerous myths and conspiracy theories. All kinds of "weird" things are associated with it. One of the most interesting occurred in 1178, when a group of Canterbury monks observed the moon "suddenly explode" into "sparks", taking on a "blackish appearance".

Looking through history, we will notice that many times astronomical events have been mistaken for supernatural signs. In ancient times, these events were considered bad omens, and from time to time, strange lights observed in the sky were interpreted as bad omens. On June 18, 1178, monks in Canterbury observed a fascinating phenomenon, which they described as follows:

"... THIS YEAR, ON THE SUNDAY BEFORE THE FESTIVAL OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST, AFTER SUNSET, WHEN THE MOON HAS JUST BEEN VISIBLE, A MIRACLE SIGN WAS SEEN BY FIVE OR MORE MEN SITTING OPPOSITE OF HIM. NOW IT WAS A CLEAN NEW MOON, AS CALLED KLE W IN THIS PHASE, WITH THE HORNS FACING EAST, AND BEHOLD, ALL OF A sudden, THE UPPER CORNER SPLIT INTO TWO PARTS. FROM THE CENTER OF THIS DIVISION, A FIRING PROJECTILE FIRED, THROWING FAR AWAY FLAMES, COALS, AND SPARKS ALSO THE BODY OF THE MOON, WHICH WAS BELOW, TURNS HE WAS FOOTING AS IF IN ANXIETY AND IN THE WORDS OF THOSE WHO TOLD ME ABOUT IT AND SAW IT WITH THEIR OWN EYES, THE MOON PULSED LIKE A WHIPPED SNAKE AFTER RETURNING TO ITS PROPER STATE..."

So what did they actually observe in 1178? Did the moon really explode?

According to the researchers, they did not observe the actual explosion of the moon, but they did observe the huge impact of a large body that hit the moon, creating what we now know as the Giordano Bruno crater.

However, there are others who disagree, arguing that an impact of this scale would send debris towards Earth, which would lead to more people on Earth observing the phenomenon, not just a few monks. Studies have shown that the impact would have ejected 10 million tons of material into Earth's atmosphere in the following weeks.

According to a NASA report, the collision triggered a week-long meteor storm on Earth comparable to the 1966 Leonid meteor peak - and yet there are no accounts of such a storm in any known historical records, including European, Chinese, Arab, Japanese and Korean astronomical archives.

According to many, if we want to explain what the monks saw from a scientific perspective, the most likely explanation is that the monks probably observed a massive meteor exploding in the atmosphere.

From the perspective of observers - and only from this perspective - it would look as if the moon had exploded, while people elsewhere would only see the phenomenon as a bright shooting star.