POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Photograph of Walter Gale and the British Astronomical Association 1922 eclipse expedition

Object No. P3549-187

This photograph is of the observing expedition led by Walter F Gale to Stanthorpe in southern Queensland to view the 1922 total solar eclipse. Here we see Gale (third from left) and members of his team with their instruments. A few years earlier Einstein had predicted that light passing close to the Sun would be deflected by gravity, by an angle of 1.75 seconds of arc at the Sun's limb. This was first measured by teams led by Frank Dyson and Arthur Stanley Eddington during the total solar eclipse of May 1919. The next opportunity to observe a total solar eclipse was in September 1922 (an eclipse in 1921 was visible only from Antarctica and the Southern ocean). The scientific community took this opportunity to confirm Dyson and Eddington's measurements, and as a result a number of eclipse expeditions made their way across Australia in August 1922. For more information see the attached theme 'Eclipse Expedition to Goondiwindi, Australia, 1922'. Geoff Barker, Curatorial, October 2008 Andrew Jacob, Curator, January 2022 References Campbell, W. W., 'The Total Eclipse of the Sun, September 21, 1922', Astronomical Society of the Pacific, provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System, May 2008 Catalogue record, University of Melbourne Archives, http://app1.lib.unimelb.edu.au/cgi-bin/mua-search?tdetails=3214;imgdetails=3214, accessed April, 2008 Cooke W. E., The Total Solar Eclipse of the Sun, 1922, September 21, Sydney Observatory Monograph, Alfred James Kent, Government Printer, 1923 Dyson, Frank, Turner, H. H., 'The Confirmation of the Einstein Prediction', Science, New Series, volume 57, number 1481, 18 May, 1923, American Association for the Advancement of Science, stable URL, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1646760 Dyson, F. W., A. S. Eddington, and C. Davidson. 'A Determination of the Deflection of Light by the Sun's Gravitational Field, from Observations Made at the Total Eclipse of May 29, 1919.', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical or Physical Character 220 (1920): 291-333. Accessed September 2, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/91137

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Summary

Object Statement

Photograph, silver gelatin print, Walter Gale and the British Astronomical Association eclipse expedition, mounted, paper / card, photographer unknown, Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia, used by Sydney Observatory, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1922

Physical Description

Photographic print, mounted, Walter Gale and the British Astronomical Association eclipse expedition, card / silver / gelatin, used by Sydney Observatory, Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia, 1922 A black and white photograph mounted on cardboard. The photograph shows a group of men from the British Astronomical Association standing around a telescope and two cameras. Walter Gale is the third man from the left. Bush and hills can be seen in the background. There is a tent behind the group of men.

DIMENSIONS

Height

253 mm

Width

303 mm

PRODUCTION

Notes

The photograph was taken on 22nd September 1922 in Goondiwindi, Queensland during the British Astronomical Associations eclipse expedition.

SOURCE

Acquisition Date

12 September 1984

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