1931 Whirlpool

[jetstream]

I have a copy of The Stars In Their Courses by Sir James Jeans-1931- and have been looking at this book since I was old enough to read (family keepsake now).It is amazing the pictures from that time are so good-black and white of course,I can only imagine the effort and time involved to take them.As I write I'm looking at the "plate" XLIII and it describes M51 as "one of the nearest nebulae",the detail in this picture is very good and one of my goals is to visually see this object as it appears in the book.Not sure if I will be able to do it from home,but maybe a trip to an observatory will do it.The text of the book makes us realize the changing nature of the course of our view of the Universe,Jeans describes star light in terms of candle power-Sirius being 26X the candle power of the sun.When this book was written I think only a lucky few would have the opportunity to look through their own telescope & look at the sky.All about perspective.

[Alan_B]

I think the equipment available for the amateur astronomer nowadays is capable of amazing results both optically and certainly for imaging - just take a look in the imaging section.

Maybe we take the quality of modern kit for granted but a glance through the pages of a text like the one described reminds us of how fortunate we are.

Makes you wonder what results we will be getting in another 50 years?