Open AccessThe first photographic eclipse?
Author(s) -
Hingley Peter D
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
astronomy & geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.168
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1468-4004
pISSN - 1366-8781
DOI - 10.1046/j.1468-4004.2001.0420011.18.x
Subject(s) - eclipse , photography , astronomy , computer graphics (images) , art , geology , computer science , visual arts , physics
Peter D Hingley describes the first concerted effort to observe an eclipse by photography, by the British Himalaya Expedition in Spain in 1860. Warren De La Rue and the British expedition to Spain to observe the total solar eclipse of 18 July 1860 broke new ground in many senses. Illustrations from albums held in the RAS Archives include what may be the earliest photographs of participants in an eclipse expedition, as well as outstanding images of partial and total phases of the eclipse. In addition, it is suggested that the expedition led to the first definite scientific result to be found from astrophotography and to the invention by De La Rue of what later became known as the plate measuring machine.