This photograph of an eclipse of the sun was taken using the Sydney Observatory astrograph which was set up on the racetrack at Goondiwindi, in Queensland, to observe the 1922 eclipse of the sun. This eclipse which occurred on 21 September passed across the centre of Australia providing optimum conditions for observations.
The scientific community used this opportunity to confirm Einstein's prediction that light passing the sun would be bent by gravity, by 1.76 seconds of arc. As a result a number of eclipse expeditions made their way across Australia in August 1922.
The expedition to Goondiwindi, in Queensland, consisted of two teams; one under the direction of Dr. J. Baldwin of Melbourne Observatory, the other from Sydney Observatory was under W. E. Cooke. In addition there were representatives from Sydney University, The British Astronomical Association of New South Wales, and a photographer Russell Grimwade who was a sponsor of the Melbourne group. For more information see the attached theme 'Eclipse Expedition to Goondiwindi, Australia, 1922'.
Geoff Barker, Curatorial, October 2008
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 Malbourne 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
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