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‘Stars should henceforth register themselves’: astrophotography at the early Lick Observatory
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Journal Article
‘Stars should henceforth register themselves’: astrophotography at the early Lick Observatory
1997
Overview
According to articles and books published at the end of the
nineteenth century, the
introduction of photography to astronomy was one of the most notable events
in the
discipline in a period chock full of important inventions and amazing
discoveries. Edward
Holden, director of the Lick Observatory in California, between 1887 and
1898, was
rapturous about the promise of photography: it would simplify
astronomical observation,
increase the reliability of data and produce permanent records
of the heavens untainted
by distraction, ill discipline or bias. This would happen, he argued, because
of the
mechanical virtues of the camera: It does not tire, as the eye does, and refuse to pay attention for
more than a small fraction of a
section, but it will faithfully record every ray of light that falls
upon it even for hours and finally
it will produce its automatic register [ctdot ] [that]
can be measured, if necessary, again and again. The
permanence of the records is of the greatest importance, and so
far as we know it is
complete [ctdot ] We can hand down to our successors a picture of the
sky, locked in a box.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press,British Society for the History of Science
Subject
