The eye of an angry God - 2

The Netherlands is not exactly a place frequented by clear skies, but we had a cloudless sky in Maastricht when it mattered! 

After a few cups of hot chocolate, a friend and I trekked to a field on a nearby hilltop - away from most city lights - and set up the telescope near the Dutch-Belgian border. We stayed up the entire night to see the celestial shadow-works and it was spectacular! It was wonderful to have the optical aids to see Earth’s shadow engulf the moon, crater by crater!

But not everything went as planned.

The eye of an angry God!

Shipwrecked in June 1503, in what is now Jamaica, Christopher Columbus and his fellows waited for rescue ships to arrive for over six months. Initially hospitable, the natives were angered as the castaways had outstayed their welcome, and so cut off their supplies, thus starving them. On 27 February 1504, Columbus threatened the natives that God will send them an angry sign. And in three days, the moon turned red! Fraught, the natives brought food for the travellers. But was it really God’s angry eye that the natives had seen?