Do you get excited about the prospect of an eclipse, be it solar or lunar? Are you one of those people who tries to figure out if the path of an eclipse includes the place where you live, just in order to get a better shot at viewing it? If you answered yes, you are bound to love this one.
You must be knowing that a solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, thereby casting a shadow on the Earth. While the sun’s disc is fully obscured by the moon in the case of a total solar eclipse, it is only partly obscured during annular and partial eclipses.
As a natural phenomenon, eclipses have been observed and recorded through the centuries. It was only in the 19th Century, however, that a photograph of one such total solar eclipse was successfully taken for the first time. It wasn’t for lack of trying though as efforts were made ever since photography came about.
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An expert daguerreotypist
The credit for the success goes to Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski, a skilled Prussian daguerreotypist. He achieved it at the Royal Prussian Observatory – an astronomical observatory and research facility that was destroyed during World War II – in Koenigsberg, which is now Kaliningrad, Russia.
Berkowski, known for his expert ability with the daguerreotype process (a state-of-the-art photography technique back thenwhich is now obsolete), was commissioned by August Ludwig Busch, the director of the observatory, to capture the total solar eclipse of 1851.
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On July 28, 1851, Berkowski was at the observatory to utilise its apparatus for his needs. By employing a small 2.4-inch aperture refractor telescope with a 32-inch focal length, he exposed the daguerreotype for a number of seconds during the totality of the solar eclipse. When the plate was developed, Berkowski had the first photograph of a total solar eclipse that showed the solar corona and several prominences.
Perfect exposure
Berkowski succeeded where others failed as previous attempts were often overexposed or underexposed and failed to show the difference in contrast between the sun’s brilliant corona and the darkness of the moon. Berkowski’s image was therefore the first correctly exposed image of a total solar eclipse, becoming scientifically invaluable in the process.
Photographing eclipses has tremendously improved with enhancement in the technology involved, making it easier, more accessible and vivid with time. While even amateur photographers are now able to pull out their digital cameras and smart phones to picture eclipses these days, professionals continue to capture them in stunning detail. And it all started with Berkowski, who only had limited means but excelled with it to produce his now famous picture.