US Edition
Published • loading... • Updated
He witnessed the sun’s power ‘like nobody else before or since.’ Now his first portrait has been found
The Royal Astronomical Society purchased the first confirmed 1856 portrait of solar astronomer Richard Carrington, linking a face to the Carrington Event benchmark in space weather.
- The Royal Astronomical Society acquired what appears to be the first confirmed photograph of 19th-century British solar astronomer Richard Carrington, adding it to the Royal Astronomical Society archives where it now appears on Carrington's Wikipedia entry.
- Despite extensive scholarship, no confirmed portrait of Richard Carrington was on record, as a 2021 RAS paper and scholars like Stuart Clark highlighted the search gap.
- Kate Bond's June discussion with Hisashi Hayakawa prompted auction-site searches that produced the Maull & Polyblank print, which she bought that night, and John Rylands Library experts confirmed a pre-mount inscription linking it to Charles Vincent Walker.
- Carrington's 1859 flare observation gave birth to the modern science of space weather, and over nine years he made major discoveries about the sun despite no confirmed likeness until now.
- Even online searches previously turned up only an erroneous Lord Kelvin photo, and the `the late Carrington` inscription raised concerns about provenance, with experts uncertain how many copies exist.
Insights by Ground AI
3 Articles
3 Articles
Coverage Details
Total News Sources3
Leaning Left1Leaning Right0Center2Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Center
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
67% Center
L 33%
C 67%
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
