Home
Astrophotography Blog
History of Astrophotography Books
Our Astrophotography Site
'Catchers of the Light' is the Website devoted to Astrophotography and its History
The first known successful image of an astronomical object was of the Moon taken in 1840 by John William Draper, although Louis Daguerre had obtained a blurred image of the Moon a year earlier. In the years that followed images of other astronomical objects were taken, notably: 1850, John Whipple and William Bond, the first photograph of a Star – Vega (Alpha Lyrae); 1851 M. Berkowski , the first photograph of a Total Eclipse of the Sun; 1854, Joseph Bancroft Reade images the Sun’s Photosphere for the first time in detail; 1880, Henry Draper, images a Deep Sky Object for the first time, the Orion Nebula (M42); 1885, Brothers Paul and Prosper Henry took the first successful images a Planet (Jupiter and Saturn). ArtdeCiel provides an online database of Early Astronomical Photographs, which is fully searchable for Object Type (e.g. Galaxy, Nebula etc), Object Name, Imager and Nationality of Imager. For each image the name of the object, the type of object, the constellation in which it is found (if applicable), the name of the imager and the date of the image, as well as a thumbnail of the object is provided. An image gallery of all the early photographs can be accessed by clicking the indicated link.
M51 George Ritchey 1910
M42 Isaac Roberts 1896
Saturn Henry Brothers 1885
Click Here For Gallery
(All Types)
Constellation
Galaxy.
Globular Cluster
Moon
Nebulae
Open Cluster
Planetary Nebula
Planets
Star Field
Star.
Sun
Supernova
(All Constellations)
Andromeda
Aquarius
Aquila
Auriga
Camelopardalis
Canes Venatici
Canis Major
Cassiopeia
Cepheus
Cetus
Coma Berenices
Cygnus
Draco
Eridanus
Gemini
Hercules
Leo Major
Lynx
Lyra
Monoceros
Ophiuchus
Orion
Pegasus
Perseus
Pisces
Puppis
Sagitta
Sagittarius
Scorpius
Sculptor
Scutum
Serpens Cauda
Sextans
Taurus.
Triangulum.
Ursa Major
Virgo
Vulpecula
Zodiacal
(All Imagers)
Andrew Ainslie Common
Charles Dillon Perrine
David Gill
Edward Emerson Barnard
Edwin Hubble
George Phillips Bond
George Willis Ritchey
Henry Brothers
Henry Draper
Isaac Roberts
James Edward Keeler
Jean Bernhard Foucault
John Adams Whipple
John William Draper
Lewis Morris Rutherfurd
M. Berkowski
Moritz Loewy
Pierre Henri Puiseux
Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen
William Edward Wilson
Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming
(All Nationalities)
Argentina
England
France
Germany
Ireland
Scotland
USA
Wales
(All Objects)
Aquila.
Auriga.
B33
Cassiopeia.
Cepheus.
Cetus.
Clavius.
Comet.
Copernicus.
Cygnus.
Eridanus.
First Quarter.
Furnerius.
Gemini.
Jupiter.
Lacus Somniorum.
Lyra.
M1/NGC1952
M100/NGC4321
M101/NGC5457
M104/NGC4594
M106/NGC4258
M108/NGC3556
M11/NGC6705
M12/NGC6218
M13/NGC6205
M14/NGC6402
M16/NGC6611
M17/NGC6618
M2/NGC7089
M20/NGC6514
M24/NGC6603
M27/NGC6853
M3/NGC5272
M31/NGC224
M33/NGC598
M35/NGC2168
M41/NGC2287
M42/NGC1976
M45/NGC1432
M46/NGC2437
M51/NGC5194
M57/NGC6720
M61/NGC4303
M63/NGC5055
M64/NGC4826
M65/NGC3623
M66/NGC3627
M71/NGC6838
M74/NGC628
M76/NGC651
M77/NGC1068
M78/NGC2068
M8/NGC6523
M81/NGC3031
M94/NGC4736
M97/NGC3587
M99/NGC4254
Mare Crisium.
Mare Fecundiatis.
Mare Frigoris.
Mare Humorum.
Mare Nectaris.
Mare Tranquillatis.
Mare Vaporum.
Maurolycus.
Mel25/C41.
Monoceros
Moon Full.
NGC1499.
NGC1528/X25/H VII-61.
NGC1977/X32.
NGC2024/X34/H V-28.
NGC2194/H VI-5.
NGC2237/C49.
NGC2261/C46.
NGC2264/X38/H VIII-5.
NGC2403/C7/H V-44.
NGC2438/H IV-39.
NGC2506/C54/H VI-37.
NGC253/C65/H V-1.
NGC2683/X47/H I-200.
NGC281/X3.
NGC2976/H I-285.
NGC3079/H V-47.
NGC3115/C53/H I-163.
NGC3198/H I-199.
NGC3226/H II-28.
NGC3628/X58/H V-8.
NGC3631/H I-226.
NGC4244/C26.
NGC4449/C21/H I-213.
NGC4490/X63/H I-198.
NGC4536/H V-2.
NGC4559/C36/H I-92.
NGC4565/C38/H V-24.
NGC4631/C32/H V-42.
NGC4656/X67/H I-176.
NGC4725/X69/H I-84.
NGC4900/H I-143.
NGC5866/X75/H I-215.
NGC654/H VII-46.
NGC6866/X100/H VII-59.
NGC6888/C27.
NGC6946/C12/H IV-76.
NGC6960/C34.
NGC6992/C33.
NGC7000/C20/H V-37.
NGC7023/C4.
NGC7044/H VI-24.
NGC7086/H VI-32.
NGC7142/H VII-66.
NGC7217/H II-207.
NGC7331/C30/H I-53.
NGC7479/C44/H I-55.
NGC7789/X108/H VI-30.
NGC7814/C43/H II-240.
NGC891/C23/H V-19.
Ophiuchus.
Orion.
Perseus.
Rho Ophiuchii.
Sagitta.
Sagittarius.
Santbech.
Saturn.
Scorpius.
Solar Photosphere.
Sun.
Taurus.
Theophilus.
Tycho.
Vulpecula.
ZetUMa.
Image
Object
Object Type
Constellation
Imager
Date
Details
Moon Full.
Moon
Zodiacal
John William Draper
1840
More...
Sun.
Sun
Zodiacal
Jean Bernhard Foucault
1845
More...
Sun.
Sun
Zodiacal
M. Berkowski
1851
More...
First Quarter.
Moon
Zodiacal
John Adams Whipple
1852
More...
ZetUMa.
Star.
Ursa Major
George Phillips Bond
1857
More...
First Quarter.
Moon
Zodiacal
Lewis Morris Rutherfurd
1865
More...
Moon Full.
Moon
Zodiacal
Lewis Morris Rutherfurd
1865
More...
Solar Photosphere.
Sun
Zodiacal
Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen
1877
More...
Solar Photosphere.
Sun
Zodiacal
Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen
1877
More...
M42/NGC1976
Nebulae
Orion
Henry Draper
1880
More...
Comet.
Planets
Zodiacal
Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen
1881
More...
Comet.
Planets
Zodiacal
David Gill
1882
More...
M42/NGC1976
Nebulae
Orion
Andrew Ainslie Common
1883
More...
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
...
>>
'Catchers of the Light'
Our Astrophotography Blog
Our Book Shop
Our Astrophotography Site
Buy the Book - from the 'Catchers of the Light' shop with special editions from $0.00 - YES FREE (conditions apply)
As Bought By the New Metropolitan Museum of Art, other Museums, Libraries, Astrophotographers, Astronomers, Fine Art Dealers, Photographers and the General Public