For centuries, lunar eclipses have been associated with the gods of fighting. In Java, we hear stories of giant Rahu Kala infiltrate tirta heaven for eternity. By the time he almost got the water, the god Chandra (moon god) caught him. Vishnu who got the news immediately threw the giant with cakranya. Kala Rahu's head off but fell in tirta eternity, while his body fell to earth. As a result the head of Rahu Kala remain eternal life. Until now, the head of Rahu Kala continues to seek revenge on the moon. When the moon off guard, he'll eat it. That's when an eclipse occurs. This also explained to our ancestors, why the moon sometimes red eclipse. In fact the color of the moon really depends on the weather conditions on earth, not the blood of the god Chandra.
For the case of a solar eclipse, the mythology of China said that there was a dog that bites Khayangan sun. There is a tradition there to hit the rafters and pans when eclipse to ward off this dog. Malays eclipse ritual bath in the mortar and scared the babies will be affected by mental retardation. We sometimes pray when eclipse. A legacy of fear of our ignorance of natural phenomena.
As we stood at the base of the cliff, we can shout aloud to the cliff and find our voice back to us. We call it an echo. Our voices, we might find a friend who was hiding in a cave, reflected by a vertical wall. Distance from us to the cliffs can be measured if we know the speed of sound at that time. We stay to calculate when arriving back to our voices and split two to get the travel time to the cliff. Multiplied by the speed of sound gives us the distance to the cliff. The same method used in measuring the ocean floor, a search of fish or a submarine. More sensitive sonar. The way in which bats in search of prey. Could we also can measure the distance to the moon in this way?
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