His great inventions are not new, but every time we learn new discoveries that, in his time as today, continue to give us something to talk about. The figure of Da Vinci is surrounded by mysteries, myths and legends that have been refined and clarified. At the time, he was undoubtedly the person with the greatest interest in human anatomy, a passion that remains an example to today’s doctors.
What is this great discovery that led us to publish this article today?What we do know is that in 1500, Leonardo da Vinci solved a great mystery after a long study: the brightness of planet Earth, he discovered that it is only possible to observe the brightness of the Earth when there is a crescent moon and when the sun sets on the horizon. You have to look at the ends of our satellite to see a ghostly image, as if it were full. Even Da Vinci’s theory, it was believed that it was the brightness of the Moon that was reflected on the planet, but it is the other way around.
- This can be seen later (about 500 years later).
- When Apollo sent the first humans to the moon.
- Let us think that in Leonardo’s time.
- It was harder to prove (it was technologically impossible to make a space trip).
- But still.
- He was convinced of his hypothesis: when the sun sets on the moon.
- It darkens.
- But not in its entirety; there is still an additional light in the sky.
- Which is neither more nor less than earth.
- It is responsible for illuminating at night.
- With a brightness 50 times that of the moon when it is in full phase.
- That is.
- When it is full.
- This produces a pale glow that gives the satellite a ghostly air.
Imagine for a moment that we are in the year 1500, we would need a truly extraordinary ability to think in the same way that da Vinci, until then, the center of the universe re around the Earth, and this idea still lived for a while. For example, in the mid-16th century, 24 years after Leonardo’s death, his hypothesis that the Earth was spinning around the Sun and not the other way around (heliocentrism) was refuted by Nicolau Copernicus.
But, going back to Da Vinci, was he the first to do it?Look, like I was sitting on the moon, with a telescope looking at Earth, most people thought it was crazy and impossible, but if anything had this wonderful scientist it was too much imagination. in their notebooks and notes to see them.
The sketches of military tanks, flying machines, submarines and even a robot, allow us to think that it was very far ahead of his time and time, for him the brightness of the Earth was a recurring theme, he was very interested in everything related to light and shadow, in his role as artist and cartoonist. When he was in his role as an engineer or mathematician, his passion was geometry. And as you rest, think about how to travel to the moon.
In da Vinci’s “Codex Leicester”, from 1510, there is a page titled “About the Moon: No Solid Body Is Lighter Than Air”. This indicates that he firmly believed that the Moon had atmosphere and oceans, that it was an excellent light reflector and that it was covered by a large amount of water. As for its “mysterious glow,” it should be noted that his explanation said it was “sunlight falling on earth’s oceans, and it’s like hitting the moon. “
Da Vinci was wrong on two points (but we must not take credit for all his discoveries and theories). First, the moon has no oceans. This was confirmed when Apollo astronauts landed in the ‘sea of tranquility’ and walked on rocks. In fact, the moon’s seas are hardened lava, not water. Second, oceans are not the reason why sunlight is reflected on Earth or in the brightness of the Earth, as it sees fit, clouds are responsible for this phenomenon.
This was also attested by the crew of the spacecraft, who saw that the regions where there were oceans were dark and where clouds were our planet shone, however, da Vinci had understood the generality of this idea and set a precedent in history, like most (if not all) of his inventions.
It is likely that humans will go to this place which was the origin of much of Leonardo’s imagination 500 years ago. NASA has been thinking about sending astronauts to the moon in 2018, and they should stay there for weeks or even months (astronauts who were in Apollo 11 were only there for two days) and in the process they want to analyze the twilight and halo of earthly glow, which our beloved 16th-century inventor would also have wanted to do.