Royal Astronomical Society | British Film Institute | 2019 May 30
The BFI and the Royal Astronomical Society have announced the rediscovery of the earliest moving picture of a total solar eclipse from 1900. The original film fragment held in The Royal Astronomical Society’s archive has been painstakingly scanned and restored in 4K by conservation experts at the BFI National Archive, who have reassembled and retimed the film frame by frame. Available now to watch online for free, Solar Eclipse (1900) is part of BFI Player’s recently released Victorian Film collection, and viewers are now able to experience this first film of a solar eclipse originally captured over a century ago.Click to play embedded YouTube video.
The film was taken by British magician turned pioneering filmmaker Nevil Maskelyne on an expedition by the British Astronomical Association (BAA) to North Carolina on 28 May, 1900. This was Maskelyne’s second attempt to capture a solar eclipse. In 1898 he travelled to India to photograph an eclipse where he succeeded but the film can was stolen on his return journey home. It was not an easy feat to film. Maskelyne had to make a special telescopic adapter for his camera to capture the event. This is the only film by Maskelyne that we know to have survived. ...