1715
Halley’s map of the Moon’s shadow crossing England during the total eclipse of 22 April 1715 (Old Style).Image: Edmond Halley · Public domainscience · Europe
Halley maps an eclipse before it happens
On the morning of 3 May 1715 by the modern calendar (22 April in the Julian calendar Britain still used) a total eclipse of the Sun crossed southern England. Edmond Halley had published a map in advance showing where the Moon’s shadow would fall, and asked people across the country to time how long the darkness lasted. In London totality lasted a little over three minutes, and Halley’s timing was out by only about four minutes, although his predicted track was some 20 miles off. It was the first eclipse forecast using Newton’s theory of gravity, and his map is usually counted as the first to show an eclipse’s path of totality.
Source: Graham Dolan, Royal Observatory Greenwich: Solar eclipses observed at Greenwich in Flamsteed’s time ↗
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