Abstract
PHOTOGRAPHY has been a helpful handmaid in many branches of astronomical science, but in no department is the value of her assistance more clearly seen than in that which is concerned with the forms and structures of nebulæ. This is hardly to be wondered at when the fine texture, the almost imperceptible gradations of light, the intricacy of detail, and the variety of nebulous forms are considered. Many vigils must be kept by an astronomer before the trend and comparative distinctness of a particular nebulous feature is satisfactorily observed; and even where this has been done, to represent the characteristic faithfully is beyond the power of any but the most accomplished draughtsmen. The unimaginative photographic plate, however, looks heavenwards for a few minutes and has imprinted upon it not only the delicate details which tease the eye of the observer and elude the skill of the artist, but also records a greater extent of celestial mist than the human eye is capable of grasping. On this account exceptional interest is attached to what has been accomplished in the portraiture of nebulæ, and the following survey of the subject will serve to show some of the roads along which progress has been made.
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GREGORY, R. The Photography of Nebulæ. Nature 57, 443–448 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/057443a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/057443a0