medal
- Museum number
- 1893,1006.1
- Description
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Struck bronze medal. (whole)
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Portraits of the French and British astronomers Jules Janssen and Norman Lockyer, heads, bearded, in profile to right, parallel and slightly suprimposed; two crossed laurel branches beneath; beaded border. (obverse)
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Apollo, rays surrounding his head, naked apart from sandals and his cloak billowing behind him, rides in a quadriga, the four horses rearing on clouds, and raises his right arm, pointing to the flaming sun eclipsed by the moon; in the background, two signs of the Zodiac, Virgo and Leo, and stars; beaded border. (reverse)
- Production date
- 1872
- Dimensions
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Diameter: 69 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- In 1868, Janssen and Lockyer independently, in India and in England respectively, had papers presented at the French Academy of Sciences on the same day, concerning their dicoveries of a method of observation of solar prominences in the absence of an eclipse, and the Academy commissioned a struck medal in 1872 to commemorate their joint discovery.
See R. K. Kochhar, "French astronomers in India during the 17th - 19th centuries", 'Journal of the British Astronomical Association', 1991, vol.101, no.2, pp.95-100.
For another struck version of the medal, see 1906,1103.539; and for a restrike, slightly smaller (by 1 mm) version with a different edge and finish, and a slight variation in design (one star in a different position), see 1931,0507.83; for a large, cast, uniface, version of the obverse, see M.6960.
A ticket accompanying medal 1906,1103.539 is inscribed, possibly by Parkes Weber, with the following information:
'This medal was ordered / by the French "Académie", / interrupted by the Franco-German / War. Mr: Dubois came over / to England to take Lockyer's / portrait. / [bt] Dubois of Paris 1892 / A-5'
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"England 1868 / The French astronomer / Janssen & Prof. Norm: Lockyer / on their simultaneous papers / on nature of solar protuberances. / AE 2.85 struck, mechanical / version of large cast (q.v) / medallions by Alphée Dubois".
- Location
- Not on display
- Associated events
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Commemoration of: Discovery of method of observing solar prominences in the absence of an eclipse (1868)
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Commemoration of: Solar eclipse (18 August 1868)
- Acquisition date
- 1893
- Department
- Coins and Medals
- Registration number
- 1893,1006.1
