Kew Photoheliograph
Photography comes to astronomy
This is the first instrument that was purpose built for astronomical photography. It was used at Kew and Greenwich to take daily photographs of the Sun. Warren de la Rue took this instrument to Rivabellosa in Spain to photograph the solar eclipse of 18 July 1860. The photographs were compared with ones taken 500 km away and proved that the prominences visible during an eclipse are part of the Sun, rather than an effect of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Date: 1857
Places
- Greenwich, Greenwich borough, London — used
- Kew, Richmond upon Thames, Greater London — used
- Cranford, Hounslow, Greater London — used
- Clerkenwell, Islington, London — made, made