Diagram of the position of the luminous prominences, 1860. Creator: Unknown

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Diagram of the position of the luminous prominences, 1860. Creator: Unknown

Diagram of the position of the luminous prominences, 1860. It is very generally known that a short time since H.M.S. Himalaya returned to England with a party of about fifty English and foreign astronomers who had gone to Spain for the purpose of observing the solar eclipse. For the most part the expedition had been favoured with good weather on the day of the eclipse, and results were obtained which tend to throw considerable light upon, and possibly to set at once at rest, the question whether the luminous prominences and corona visible on the occasion of a total eclipse belong to the sun, or whether they are occasioned by the deflection and diffraction of the light of the sun's photosphere...The two photographs [taken by British astronomer Warren de la Rue]...prove incontestably that the luminous prominences belong to the sun and not to the moon, for the reason that they retained a fixed position in regard to our luminary as the moon glided before it, and because they did not change either their form or appearance, except in so far that the moon by passing over them shut them off on the eastern side, while fresh ones became visible on the western side, and were depicted in the second plate'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860

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Media ID 36348854

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Camera Diagram Eclipse Lunar Moon Solar Eclipse Warren De La Rue Photoheliograph

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> Europe > Spain > Posters

> Europe > United Kingdom > England > London > Weather

EDITORS COMMENTS
This intriguing diagram depicts the position of luminous prominences on the surface of the Sun as observed during the solar eclipse of 1860. The discovery of these prominences, which are now known to be magnetic structures in the Sun's outer layers, caused much debate among astronomers at the time. Were they a part of the Sun itself or a result of the Moon's interaction with the Sun's light? The resolution of this question came with the return of the H.M.S. Himalaya from a British expedition to Spain, where astronomers had gathered to observe the solar eclipse. Among them was Warren de la Rue, a renowned British astronomer. His meticulous observations and subsequent photographs of the eclipse provided compelling evidence that the luminous prominences were indeed a solar phenomenon. As shown in the diagram, the luminous prominences remained stationary in relation to the Sun as the Moon passed in front, while their appearance did not change significantly. Instead, new prominences appeared on the western side of the Sun as the Moon blocked the eastern ones. This fixed position and unaltered form were confirmed in the two photographs taken by de la Rue, which were published in the "Illustrated London News" in 1860. These findings put an end to the debate and established that the luminous prominences were indeed a part of the Sun, not a result of lunar interference.

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