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The first man predicts a solar eclipse
(Date not exact). Thales of Miletus was allegedly the first man to predict a solar eclipse. Herodotus, a Greek historian, said that Thales had pedicted a solar eclipse for the year 585 B.C. -
First accurate prediction of a solar eclipse
(Date not exact). Sir Edmond Halley used Issac Newton's law of gravity to help him be the first person to accurately predict a solar eclipse. He also published a famous map that explained the eclipse's path. Shubinski, Raymond. "Astro-history." Astronomy Sept. 2009: 54. Science in Context. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. -
Coronal green emission independently discovered
Charles A. Young and William Harkness detected a strange green emission from the sun. This is now known as the coronal "green line", and came from the element coronium. Pasachoff, Jay M. "Solar-eclipse science: still going strong." Sky & Telescope Feb. 2001: 40+. Science in Context. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. -
George Ellery Hale invents one of the first solar telescopes
(Date not exact). In 1889, Hale began developing what is known as a spectrohelioscope, which is a spectroscope that is designed for viewing the Sun safely from Earth. Henri-Alexandre Deslandres, a French astrophysicist, improved on Hale's invention by creating the spectroheliograph. This would let the scientist using the machine not only view the Sun, but also take photographs of it. "Solar Telescope." Astronomy & Space: From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch. Gale, 2007. Science in Context. Web. 1 -
First measurments of Sun arise
Arthur C. Eddington, an English astronomer, used Einstein's experiment of deflecting sunlight to create an epochal eclipse experiment. He completed this experiment when the Sun was in front of the Hyades cluster. Pasachoff, Jay M. "Solar-eclipse science: still going strong." Sky & Telescope Feb. 2001: 40+. Science in Context. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. -
The first coronagraph is created
(Date not exact). Bernard Lyot, a French astronomer, was the first man to construct a coronagraph. "This device contained a black disk that would create artificially the conditions of an eclipse by blocking out most of the sunlight entering its chamber." (Science in Context 2007). "Solar Telescope." Astronomy & Space: From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch. Gale, 2007. Science in Context. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. -
Final use of Einstein's experiment with solar eclipses
Einstein's famous "deflection of starlight" experiment was last used in Mauritania, until Fomalont and Sramek discovered a new form of photography of the Sun. Pasachoff, Jay M. "Solar-eclipse science: still going strong." Sky & Telescope Feb. 2001: 40+. Science in Context. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. -
Astronomers achieve great accuracy while using radio telescopes
(Date not exact). Edward B. Fomalont and Richard A. Sramek, both radio astronomers, used widely-separated telescopes to accurately measure "quasars" as the Sun passed by. Quasars are large celestial beings, commonly being mistaken for stars in a telescope. Pasachoff, Jay M. "Solar-eclipse science: still going strong." Sky & Telescope Feb. 2001: 40+. Science in Context. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. -
Patsourakos begins his using his research to derive the radial velocity of the Sun
(Date not exact). Spiros Patsourakos, a French scientist at the Institut d'Astrophysique, uses his work to derive the radial velocities of the Sun. This information would be crucial to their studies on being able to accurately document the full cycle of a solar eclipse. Pasachoff, Jay M. "Solar-eclipse science: still going strong." Sky & Telescope Feb. 2001: 40+. Science in Context. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. -
Thales' solar eclipse occurs
The solar eclipse that Thales had predicted occured in May of the predicted year, in the middle of a great battle between the Lydians and the Medes. The eclipse was so sudden for the two armies that they quickly made peace to retreat to safety. Why this may be the earliest recorded predicted solar eclipse in history, many astrologists do not believe that Thales' predictions were accurate. Shubinski, Raymond. "Astro-history." Astronomy Sept. 2009: 54. Science in Context. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
