Tables for the radii of the Sun, the Moon, and the shadow from John of Gmunden to Longomontanus (Q6145605)

The Sun and the Moon have roughly the same apparent size as seen from the Earth, as is notable especially during solar eclipses. During a lunar eclipse, the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow, which is roughly twice the size of the Moon. Since the orbits of celestial bodies are not perfect circles, these sizes vary somewhat. Since antiquity it was customary for astronomical treatises to include tables of these sizes, which were needed to calculate precise data for eclipses. The authors survey such tables in a number of sources from the 14th to the 17th century. The authors often tinkered with details, but these tables changed little over time and were not radically impacted by theoretical shifts such as the introduction of heliocentrism. Apart from mathematical astronomy, the issue also had an optical dimension. The Moon's radius could be regarded as being apparently shrunk during an eclipse. Tycho Brahe, and his follower Longomontanus, proposed unsatisfactory accounts of this optical effect. Kepler gave a correct explanation based on the difference between an ideal pinhole camera obscura and one with an opening of a perceptible size. In fact, such an explanation had already been given centuries earlier by Levi ben Gerson, but that was apparently forgotten by Kepler's time.