Year

Isle of Man Event           (This page is in the early stage of writing)

900

  • Viking incursions and settlement in the Isle of Man. How did the Vikings use astronomical observations to navigate their way across the seas?    More info.

950

 

1000

 

1050

  • King Orry came to Mann in 1079, arriving on a starry night. Those who met him asked him where he had come from. He pointed to the Milky Way and said “Yonder is from whence I came, and from along that star spangled dome is the way that leads to my kingdom”. Ever since that time, the Milky Way has been called in Manx Gaelic Raad Mooar Ree Gorree, or “The Great Way of King Orry”.

1100

 

1150

 

1200

 

1250

 

1300

  • In 1310, the Three Legs Of Man makes its first recorded appearance. The Three Legs have their origins in solar symbology, and the legs chase the sun across the sky each day.

1350

 

1400

  • The Chronicles of the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles (held in the British Museum), was probably written at Rushen Abbey. Eclipses and bright comets are recorded within the “Chronicles”.

1450

 

1500

 

1550

 

1600

 

1650

 

1700

  • Bishop Wilson (1663-1755), Bishop of Sodor and Man from 1697-1755, was a keen astronomer. He recorded many astronomical events in his diaries at Bishop’s Court in the Isle of Man, including the annular eclipse of the sun on Sunday, 18th February 1736.    More info.

1750

 

1800

 

1850

  • Thomas Keig JP, FRAS, the first Mayor of Douglas, was a founder member of the now defunct Manx Astronomical Society. He was also a founder member in 1890 of the world renowned British Astronomical Association. On 8th February, 1889, he was elected a member of the prestigious Royal Astronomical Society. Much of his observing was from a purpose built observatory on the roof of his photographic shop on Prospect Hill, Douglas.     More info.

1900

 

1950

  • In 1997, one of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, Europa, had one of its three largest craters named Manannan, after the Celtic god of the sea of the same name. The “Man” in Isle of Man is of course, a contraction from old of the name Manannan. The crater in question, measures 22 km in diameter.

2000

 

2001

 

2002

 

2003

 

2004

 

2005

 

2006

 

2007

 

2008

 

2009