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The first ever film from a solar eclipse in 1900 has been restored

A British magician turned filmmaker captured the footage while in North Carolina back in May 1900.

You can now take a trip back in time and see what it was like to witness a solar eclipse more than a century ago in the U.S. 

The Royal Astronomical Society and BFI announced on Thursday the "rediscovery" of the earliest-known footage from a total solar eclipse. 

Conservation experts at the BFI National Archive painstakingly scanned and restored the original film fragment, which is held in the Royal Astronomical Society's archive. The process involved reassembling and re-timing the film frame by frame, according to Thursday's announcement

The revolutionary footage was first captured by British magician turned filmmaker Nevil Maskelyn during an expedition to North Carolina on May 28, 1900. 

It's believed that this is the only surviving film of the eclipse from Maskelyne.  

The president of the Royal Astronomical Society, Professor Mike Cruise, said it's wonderful to see events from our scientific past brought back to life. "These scenes of a total solar eclipse - one of the most spectacular sights in astronomy - are a captivating glimpse of Victorian science in action," Cruise said in a statement. 

According to the astronomical society, Maskelyne had to make a special telescopic adapter for his camera to successfully film the eclipse.  The group described him as "a scientific investigator of illusions, spiritualism and various phenomena."

The restored footage has been uploaded online so that everyone can watch it whenever they'd like for free. 

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