175 Years Ago: First Photo of a Solar Eclipse Changed Science

When the moon slid in front of the sun on July 28, 1851, a photographer in Prussia pointed his telescope at the sky and held his breath for 84 seconds. Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski created the first successful photograph of a total solar eclipse, freezing a moment that would change science forever.

Berkowski worked in what is now Kaliningrad, Russia, using a 2.4-inch telescope and an early photography technique called daguerreotype. The method produced a single image on a silver-coated copper plate treated with light-sensitive chemicals.

So little is known about Berkowski that historians didn't even discover his full name until 2013. But his anonymous contribution launched a new era of solar astronomy and eclipse expeditions around the world.

Fast forward 175 years, and our cameras have gotten better, but our wonder hasn't changed. Samantha Thompson, astronomy curator at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, saw her first total eclipse in 2017 in South Carolina. She and her mother both cried at the sight.

These rare alignments happen somewhere on Earth only once every 18 months on average. Totality can last from ten seconds to seven minutes, depending on the alignment. During those precious moments, day turns to twilight, crickets chirp, and bees return to their hives.

Why This Inspires

Scientists have been documenting eclipses since at least 3000 B.C., and researchers even found a 1097 Pueblo rock carving in New Mexico that might show a total eclipse. Berkowski's photograph became part of that permanent record, creating a moment that lasted beyond a tiny slice of time.

Today, total eclipse images help scientists study the sun's corona, its outermost atmosphere. The sun shines so brightly that we can only see the corona's wispy filaments during an eclipse or through special instruments called coronagraphs.

Jenna Samra, an astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, says eclipses have formed the backbone of her career. She builds instruments to examine the corona and understand how the sun creates space weather that can cause auroras and affect satellites.

The European Space Agency recently launched Proba-3, using two satellites to create an artificial eclipse in space. One satellite blocks the sun's light from another located 49 feet away, allowing scientists to study the corona without waiting for the moon's shadow.

From a single 84-second exposure in 1851 to satellites creating artificial eclipses today, our tools have evolved, but the magic remains the same: humans looking up together, captivated by the dance of celestial bodies above.