Investigation of some astronomical phenomena in medieval Arabic chronicles

Abstract

Medieval Arabic observational records of comets, meteors, meteor showers, solar and lunar eclipses are translated from the original Arabic chronicles. A comparison is made between each Arabic cometary record with East Asian observations. Specific investigation of Halley's comet has been made. The frequency of meteor showers is compared with the known prominent meteor showers. The recorded observations of different types of solar and lunar eclipses have been studied. The accuracy in the recording of the time of beginning and ending and the magnitude of the eclipse are also studied and compared with the present-day calculations. In addition, the different methods of recording of the local time of the eclipse and the magnitude are discussed.