Editing 1851 in science (section)

==Astronomy==
* February – First public exhibition of a [[Foucault pendulum]], at the Meridian of the [[Paris Observatory]], demonstrating the [[Earth's rotation]]. A few weeks later [[Léon Foucault|Foucault]] installs one at the [[Panthéon, Paris|Panthéon]].<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Tobin|title=The Life and Science of Léon Foucault, the Man who Proved the Earth Rotates|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2003|isbn=0-521-80855-3}}</ref>
[[File:1851 07 28 Berkowski.jpg|thumb|[[Solar eclipse of July 28, 1851]]: the first correctly exposed photograph of a solar eclipse, using the [[daguerreotype]] process.]]
* July 28 – [[Solar eclipse of July 28, 1851]]: Total [[solar eclipse]]. The first correctly exposed photograph, a [[daguerrotype]], of the [[solar corona]] is made during the total phase of the eclipse by Berkowski at [[Koenigsberg Observatory]] in [[Prussia]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=On the Berkowski daguerreotype (Königsberg, 1851 July 28): the first correctly-exposed photograph of the solar corona|last1=Schielicke|first1=Reinhard|last2=Wittmann|first2=Axel D.|journal=Acta Historica Astronomiae|volume=25|pages=128–147|year=2005|bibcode=2005AcHA...25..128S}}</ref> Astronomers [[Robert Grant (astronomer)|Robert Grant]] and [[William Swan (astonomer)|William Swan]] (of the [[United Kingdom]]) and [[Karl Ludwig von Littrow]] (of [[Austria]]) observe this eclipse and determine that [[solar prominence]]s are part of the Sun because the Moon is seen to cover and uncover them as it moves in front.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mreclipse.com/Totality2/TotalityApH.html|first1=Mark|last1=Littmann|first2=Ken|last2=Willcox|first3=Fred|last3=Espenak|title=Chronology of Discoveries about the Sun|work=MrEclipse.com|year=1999|accessdate=2012-06-06}}</ref>
* October 24 – [[Ariel (moon)|Ariel]] and [[Umbriel]], [[natural satellite|moons]] of [[Uranus]], were discovered by [[William Lassell]].<ref>''[[Astronomical Journal]]'' '''2'''(33):p. 70 (1851).</ref>
* The [[William Brydone Jack Observatory]] is completed at [[Fredericton]], [[New Brunswick]].