Update On The Earliest Known Halo Photograph

Following recent comments by one of our readers, Aysun Ülger, on the post regarding the earliest known photograph of a halo, I thought it would be useful to post an update in order to make a permanent record of the images he has been kind enough to share with us. 

First, from the book "Manual of Meteorology" by Sir Napier Shaw dated 1926, we have two images of halos. The one on the left taken in Aberdeen, Scotland by G. A. Clarke and is dated 30th September 1910, and the one on the right taken in Potsdam, Germany by A. Sprung is dated 13th March 1902. This is now the earliest photograph of a halo we have.

Second, whilst not an actual photograph of a halo, I also thought it would be useful to reproduce an illustration which was included in the book "The Voyage of the 'Discovery'" by Captain Robert F. Scott dated 1905 giving an account of his Antarctic expedition between 1901 and 1904. 

To my mind, this illustration has a very modern look to it, as if it could have been drawn from a photograph taken with a modern all sky lens. If only they had such equipment back then! I also like the way the artist has differentiated the coloured and white halos. What is of great interest is that it has one of the earliest depictions of the Kern arc that we know about. It is interesting to read Scott's own account of the display and it is worth quoting in full,

"November 29 - Shortly after four o'clock to-day we observed the most striking atmospheric phenomenon we have yet seen in these regions. We were enveloped in a light, thin stratus cloud of small ice-crystals; it could not have extended to any height, as the sun was only lightly veiled. From these drifting crystals above, the sun's rays were reflected in such an extraordinary manner that the whole arch of the heavens was traced with circles and lines of brilliant prismatic or white light. The coloured circles of a bright double halo were touched or intersected by one which ran about us parallel to the horizon; above this, again, a gorgeous prismatic ring encircled the zenith; away from the sun was a white fogbow, with two bright mock suns where it intersected the horizon circle. The whole effect was almost bewildering, and its beauty is far beyond the descriptive powers of my sledging pencil. We have often seen double halos, fog-bows, mock suns, and even indications of other circles, but we have never been privileged to witness a display that approaches in splendour that of to-day. We stopped, whilst Wilson took notes of the artistic composition, and I altitudes and bearings of the various light effects. If it is robbed of some of the beauties of a milder climate, our region has certainly pictures of its own to display.

On our return to the ship I could find no account, in such reference books as we had, of anything to equal this scene, nor have I since heard of its having been witnessed elsewhere. The accompanying drawing shows more clearly than I can describe what we actually saw; our artist has shown it diagrammatically, and the observer is supposed to be looking straight upwards towards the zenith." (The Voyage of the 'Discovery', Captain Robert F. Scott, pp 35-36).

So then, the bar is now set at 13th March 1902. This is a mere 76 years after the birth of photography. With a little more effort I am sure we can push this date back into the nineteenth century and even further. As Aysun commented, "Let's keep going"!

The Earliest Known Photograph of a Halo

Following the publication of the recent Kertész post, a lively discussion ensued as to what is the earliest known photograph of a halo, either in black and white or colour? This brought to mind Marko's post on his blog submoon, about the first recorded halo from Lowitz orientation with a 315/325 raypath. In that post, he includes a photograph taken by Paul Schultz on a 1905-06 expedition to Alaska and later reproduced in the book Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled by Archdeacon Stuck (Scribner's, 1914),

Very recently, I also had the great fortune to come across a book, Cloud Studies by Arthur W. Clayden, (John Murray, London, 1905) which includes two photographs of halos. The first shows a 22° halo which exhibits a thickening around the area of the upper tangent arc and a second one which shows a section of the parhelic circle. Considering the book may have been in preparation some time prior to publication, these images might even be slightly older.

Now the question I would like to pose is can these really be the earliest photographs of halos ever taken? I have an extremely hard time believing this to be the case. My gut feeling is that earlier examples must be in existence somewhere. Photography had been around for nearly eighty years when these photographs were taken. The first black and white image was produced  in 1826-7 and the first colour image in 1861. The quality of photographic equipment and technique had been refined to such an extent by this time that high quality images were able to be produced by the average photographer. However, in the hands of a skilled practitioner, large format plates coated with slow emulsions were capable of recording some of the finest images that have ever been produced, exhibiting the most exquisite detail and tonality. In the following examples of early photographs, we see that the clouds and the sky play a principal or prominent part in their composition,

Sky Study, Paris, Charles Marville, 1856-7. © Metropolitan Museum of Art.

September Clouds, Roger Fenton, 1859.

Seascape at Night, Henry Peach Robinson, 1870.

So here is where I hand the investigation over to you to play detective. The bar has been temporarily set at 1905, but I am quietly confident that with a little effort we can push the timeline back into the nineteenth century and even further, possibly back towards the 1850's and 1860's. One last sobering thought to bear in mind. The very first photograph ever to be taken was View from the Window at Le Gras by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826-7 and was taken from a vantage point looking out on to the open sky which could potentially have contained a halo.

View from the Window at Le Gras, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, 1826-7.

Happy hunting!