José Joaquín de Ferrer y Cafranga (

Pasaia Pasaia () is a town and municipality located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community of northern Spain. It is a fishing community, commercial port and the birthplace of the famous admiral Blas de Lezo and of the fashion de ...

, October 26, 1763 –

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, May 18, 1818) was a Spanish

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

astronomer. In 1779, aged 17, he was on board the Gipuzcoana Company's '' Nuestra Señora de la Asunción'' off Cape St Vincent when the vessel was captured by the British. After surviving captivity with the help of his family, he undertook studies. In 1801, Ferrer was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. The Spanish astronomer was part of the first

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

expeditions. He journeyed to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

in 1803 and to

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

in 1806 and observed the two solar eclipses successfully. In the description of the solar eclipse in 1806 observed from Kinderhook, New York he coined the word " corona" for the bright ring observable during a total eclipse.

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