The Aztecs takes place some time after 1430 – if Barbara’s dating of the artefacts in Yetaxa’s tomb is to be believed – and before Cortes’ landing in 1519. But can we date it more precisely than that? The serial concludes with the passing of a predicted solar eclipse… and thanks to NASA’s World Atlas of Solar Eclipse Paths, which records every total, annular and hybrid solar eclipse that has been or will be visible between 2000 BCE and 3000 AD, The Fact of Fiction observes that three total eclipses (where the Moon completely covers the Sun) were visible from parts of the Aztec Empire (present-day Southern Mexico, more or less) between 1430 and 1519. The first clipped the southernmost fringes of the empire from around 13:52 hours on 17 June 1452; the second (a hybrid eclipse – total only in sections) crossed the entire area from around 20:34 on 13 February 1477; and the third passed over its northern and easternmost parts from around 21:40 on 8 August 1496. In addition, an annular eclipse (where the Moon is too far from Earth to completely cover the Sun) would have been just about visible from Aztec lands at around 15:25 on 28 May 1481. You decide which best fits The Day of Darkness: eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas