September 28, 2015 - From Glass Plates to Pixels
From Glass Plates to Pixels Although the Moon was imaged using the daguerreotype process in 1840, it wasn’t until 1880 that glass photographic plates were sufficiently sensitive to record faint nebulae. One hundred thirty-five years ago this week, Henry Draper, a physician by trade but astronomer by calling, used a sensitive glass plate to make the first nebula photograph. His subject was the Orion Nebula, the brightest nebula in the sky. Advances in emulsion-based photography occurred at a steady pace, and very soon astrophotographs were able to reveal more detail than the human eye could see. Astrophotography on film has now given way to digital imaging, such as this breathtaking image of the Orion Nebula, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The original image contains 324 million pixels.
Image credit: NASA,ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team
Weekly Calendar
September 28 - October 4, 2015
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 28
Uranus 1° north of Moon
Vesta at opposition
Tuesday 29
1977: Salyut 6 space station launched
1988: STS-26 Discovery launched, first shuttle flight since Challenger disaster
2001: First satellite launch from Alaska
2009: MESSENGER makes its third and final flyby of Mercury
Wednesday 30
Mercury in inferior conjunction (between Earth and Sun)
1880: Henry Draper takes first photograph of Orion Nebula
1994: STS-68 Endeavour launched
1995: Daily communication with Pioneer 11 ends
2005: Soyuz TMA-7 launched carrying ISS Expedition 12 crew
2009: Soyuz TMA-16 launched carrying ISS Expedition 21/22 crew
Thursday 1
1897: 40-inch refractor dedicated at Yerkes Observatory
1958: NASA founded
1962: 300-foot radio telescope at Green Bank goes into operation
2010: Chang’e-2 lunar spacecraft launched
Friday 2
Aldebaran 0.5° south of Moon
Saturday 3
1935: Charlie Duke born
1942: First V2 rocket launched
1962: Mercury Sigma 7 launched
1967: X-15A-2 flies at mach 6.7
1985: STS-51J Atlantis launched
Sunday 4
World Space Week begins
Last Qtr Moon 5:06 PM ET
1957: Sputnik 1 launched
1959: Luna 3 launched
2004: SpaceShipOne wins X Prize