On This Day in Space! March 23, 1840: First photo of the moon taken!, ,

On March 23, 1840, a New Yorker named John William Draper became the first person to take a photo of the moon.

Draper was a doctor, scientist and photographer who studied photochemistry to come up with better ways to take pictures. Before Draper photographed the moon, another photographer Louis Daguerre had tried to do the same, but his image came out fuzzy.

How to observe the moon (infographic)

Capturing the moon in a so-called daguerreotype image involved long exposures, and Daguerre had some technical difficulties while tracking the moon’s movement with his telescope. Draper’s first successful photo also took several tries. He took a 20-minute exposure with a 5-inch telescope to create a daguerreotype of the moon, and he publicly announced his results on March 23.

Catch up on our entire “On This Day In Space” series on YouTube with this playlist.

[image error]

History of NASA: $22.99 at Magazines Direct

Discover the story of how and why NASA was created, its greatest triumphs, darkest days, and of the times it exceeded all possible hopes. A tale of adventure, heroism and resourcefulness, learn of the space agency’s greatest achievements and how — over six decades — the organization has consistently and tirelessly devoted itself to its founding principle: that “activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all humankind”. View Deal

Still not enough space? Don’t forget to check out our Space Image of the Day, and on the weekends our Best Space Photos and Top Space News Stories of the week.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

The post On This Day in Space! March 23, 1840: First photo of the moon taken!, , appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.