Rare Astronomical photos in 1929

[Nikolai De Silva]

These are rare photos in the 1929 Encyclopaedia Brittanica. These are 94 years old for now and goodies from the past! 

Nikolai

[Nikolai De Silva]

[Nikolai De Silva]

[Nikolai De Silva]

[Nikolai De Silva]

[Nikolai De Silva]

[M40]

100 years old and most still better than I managed 👌 

good find 👍

[Ouroboros]

@Nikolai De Silva Excellent.  Amazing what they did with photographic plates isn’t it?  I bet someone had to guide those long exposures by eye for the whole duration of the exposure too.  Also amazing that those images were the best of what could be achieved then with big very expensive equipment ….. and that people can now produce better images in their own back gardens.

The coloured plate of spectra is amazing.  I checked my own copy of encyclopaedia Britannica published in 1953 and it does not have such good images.  

[John]

Fascinating. These were published just 6 years after Edwin Hubble found Cephid Variables in the Andromeda Galaxy demonstrating that there were separate galaxies beyond the milky way. Cutting edge ideas back then.

 

[glafnazur]

4 hours ago, Nikolai De Silva said:

Growing up with images similar to these in the Larousse encyclopaedia of astronomy is why I have always loved mono images.

[Paul M]

2 hours ago, glafnazur said:

Growing up with images similar to these in the Larousse encyclopaedia of astronomy is why I have always loved mono images.

I think all my early books had these images in. I don't think things move too much until in the (late?) 70's when I got, what was one of my favorite, books with images by David Malin; "Catalogue of The Universe" or something. It was an order of magnitude improvement in imaging.