Richard Carrington’s first portrait discovered: A historic find for solar astronomy

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A long-lost portrait of Richard Carrington, the 19th-century British astronomer behind the largest recorded solar storm, has been discovered. Carrington documented the first observed solar flare in 1859, linking solar activity to geomagnetic disturbances on Earth. The photo, originally owned by his friend Charles Vincent Walker, confirms Carrington’s image and has now been added to the RAS archives. This discovery connects the human story to the scientific legacy of space weather research.