American photographer who captured one of the earliest images of a total solar eclipse in 1851

Berkowski made this first solar eclipse photograph at the Royal Observatory in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). Image Credit: Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski/Wikipedia A total solar eclipse is one of nature’s most dramatic sights, but 175 years ago it was also a difficult scientific problem to record. On July 28, 1851, a little-known photographer named Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski produced what is regarded as the first successful photograph of a total solar eclipse. Working at the Royal Observatory in Königsberg, Prussia, he used a small refracting telescope and an exposure lasting 84 seconds to capture the Moon crossing the Sun. The results marked a turning point. As later eclipse observations became increasingly photographic, scientists gained a lasting way to study the Sun’s faint outer atmosphere, the ‘corona.’ Berkowski’s nearly forgotten image therefore became much more than a historical curiosity, it opened a new chapter in eclipse science for decades.How did Berkowski capture the historic total solar eclipseThe photograph was taken during the total solar eclipse of July 28, 1851, which was visible across parts of Europe. According to the Smithsonian Mag...