Australian solar eclipse expeditions: the voyage to Cape York in 1871

Australian solar eclipse expeditions: the voyage to Cape York in 1871

Techniques such as photography and spectroscopy only became available to study solar eclipses in the 1860s. The first subsequent total eclipse of the Sun to be visible from Australia was one in December 1871 that was visible from far north Queensland. Initiated by the Royal Society of Victoria, astronomers in Melbourne and Sydney cooperated to organise the Australian Eclipse Expedition aboard the steamship Governor Blackall to a suitable observing location. Though on the day of the eclipse clouds prevented viewing, this was an important expedition that was complex to organise and involved dealings with colonial Governments and with relatively large sums of money that Australian scientists had not previously experienced. With a newspaper reporter as part of the expedition along with two photographers the expedition was well recorded and provides a clear insight into the activities of late nineteenth century astronomers and other scientists.

Open Access.