Original telescope
The proof's tool.
The Eclipse Museum in Sobral, Ceará, commemorates an event that changed the history of science. On 29 May 1919 a total solar eclipse lasting six minutes and fifty-one seconds was observed here, and the photographs taken by the scientific expedition showed that stars were not in their expected positions, matching the calculations of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. The museum opened on 29 May 1999 to mark eighty years since that confirmation, on Praça do Patrocínio, the very spot where the scientists set up their instruments. It displays the original telescope and photographs used to prove the theory, pictures of the expedition in Sobral, Brazil's first lunar map and the New York Times issue that reported the news, along with an eclipse simulator and models of the Solar System. The museum closed for repairs in 2014 and reopened on 29 May 2019, the centenary of the eclipse; it is part of a science complex with a planetarium and an observatory. Check opening times before visiting.
The proof's tool.
Interactive.
1919 report.
Praça do Patrocínio, central Sobral, Ceará
The 1919 eclipse was observed here, and its photographs confirmed Einstein's theory.