Total solar eclipse, 1871. Photograph of the total solar eclipse seen on 12 December 1871. The disc of the Moon (black) is completely covering the disc of the Sun so that only the Sun's corona (atmosphere, white) is visible. Total solar eclipses usually occur less than once a year, and can only be seen from a small area of the Earth's surface. Photographed by Henry Davis as part of the 1871 eclipse expedition to southern India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka).