Photographer captured ‘mysterious lunar mountain’ during 1954 eclipse

Anna Þórhallsdóttir took eight photographs during a solar eclipse in Iceland in 1954, and one of them later drew attention because she believed it showed a mysterious mountain on the Moon, mbl.is reports. The image became the subject of coverage in Morgunblaðið and elsewhere, and Þórhallsdóttir later met astronomers in the United States to investigate it.

Gísli Helgason, project manager at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography, says the explanation is much more down to earth, although the available account does not detail what that explanation is.

Þórhallsdóttir, who was born in Höfn in 1904 and died at Hrafnista in 1998, described the eclipse in a 1991 interview with Morgunblaðið as the greatest adventure of her life.

As she approached central Reykjavík, she said she saw shadows resembling a barred fence across the brightly lit street. The eclipse then became almost brownish, and she felt a heartbeat as if the Earth’s gravitational pull had changed.

She ran to a photography shop called Týli in Austurstræti, hoping to borrow a good camera. After being offered sunglasses instead, she continued to Hans Petersen’s shop in Bankastræti, where Búi Petersen lent her a box camera with unground glass and the most light-sensitive eight-exposure film he had.

She later recalled running back to Týli to borrow the sunglasses before photographing the eclipse from Austurstræti, where there was no traffic. For a moment, she said, something that looked like mountains on the Moon appeared to move past, and she managed to capture it.

After using all eight exposures, Þórhallsdóttir continued looking at the sky through the camera. She regretted not having a longer roll of film because she believed she saw more mountains pass by.

She described the eclipse as a powerful experience of peace and faith, comparing the bright point of light seen as sunlight emerged around the Moon to the Star of Bethlehem.