Donati's Comet, 1858

Donati's Comet, in 1858. Not (as others have said) the earliest photograph of a comet, but a drawing by George P. Bond of the Harvard Observatory, found on page 270 of Astronomy for Everybody (1902), by Simon Newcomb. It comes around once every 2,000 years, about.

Compare to this photograph of a solar eclipse by Ansel Adams. (And don't miss this fun sleuthwork to track down when and where Adams actually took that photograph.)