Solar eclipse of July 28, 1851

Solar eclipse of July 28, 1851
Berkowski made this first solar eclipse photograph at the Royal Observatory in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia)
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.7644
Magnitude	1.0577
Maximum eclipse
Duration	221 s (3 min 41 s)
Coordinates	68°00′N 19°36′W / 68°N 19.6°W / 68; -19.6
Max. width of band	296 km (184 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	14:33:42
References
Saros	143 (14 of 72)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9167

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, July 28, 1851, with a magnitude of 1.0577. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 1.5 days before perigee (on July 30, 1851, at 2:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.^[1]

The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Russia, southwestern Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of North America, Europe, North Africa, Russia, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

This was the earliest scientifically useful photograph of a total solar eclipse, made by Julius Berkowski at the Royal Observatory in Königsberg, Prussia. It was the first occasion that an accurate photographic image of a solar eclipse was recorded.