The first detailed photograph of the moon, taken by John W. Draper from the rooftop observatory at New York University (26th March, 1840)

https://i.redd.it/bae009q376ag1.jpeg

6 Comments

  1. rants_unnecessarily on

    Shame it’s in such bad repair. Can’t tell at all what is part of the original picture in relation to how they moon’s surface looked.

  2. AllegedlyElJeffe on

    Something tells me that it’s probably looked more detailed at the time it was taken

  3. Having a really hard time believing cell shaded moon was a photograph. How does the dark side get a black outline between it and the black of the universe behind it?

  4. https://library.nyu.edu/about/events-exhibitions/exhibitions/draper-daguerreotype/ or https://seethinklab.com/1840_john-draper_earliest-image-of-the-moon has a better image of the photograph.

    This is the negative image – not the positive (this changes based on viewing angle).

    The positive viewing angle shows craters on both sides (earth shine I presume). The crescent is an artifact and not the moon itself.

    I’d also recommend https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/778144 (an albumen silver print on wood from 1863)

  5. Light_Watcher777 on

    I have a hard time connecting this photo with the word, “detailed”. For that year, however, I’m sure it was amazing!