This unique volume by two renowned astrophotographers unveils the science and history behind 100 of the most significant astronomical images of all time. The authors have carefully selected their list of images from across time and technology to bring to the reader the most relevant photographic images spanning all eras of modern astronomical history.

Table of Contents

• The earliest known surviving photograph, 1826–1827.
• Preface
• About the Authors
• 1 The Birth and Evolution of Astrophotography
• The Astrophotography Pioneers
• The Telescopic Leap
• Film Developments
• Photoelectronics
• Pixels in Space
• Super-Sized Telescopes
• Astrophotography for the Masses
• The Hubble Paradigm Shift
• Seeing the Invisible
• Imaging with Radio Waves
• Seeing Infrared
• Beyond the Blue
• Going There
• 2 A Series of Firsts, from Daguerreotypes to Dry Plates
• The First Daguerreotype of the Moon and the Birth of Astrophotography
• Capturing Sunlight
• Reaching for the Stars
• Moving Targets: The First Comet Photographs
• Coronal Light: The First Daguerreotype of a Solar Eclipse
• Beyond the Sun and Moon: The First Detailed Images of Saturn and Jupiter
• Measuring the Sky: The Birth of Photographic Astrometry
• Dividing Light: The Birth of Photographic Spectroscopy
• Our Backyard Star: Exploring the Surface of the Sun
• Variable Stars and the Prelude to Modern Cosmology
• The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram and the Life of Stars
• 3 The Photographic Exploration of Deep Space and the Realm of the Nebulae
• Beyond the Visual: The Deep Space Era Begins
• Looking South: The Magellanic Clouds and Southern Sky Photography
• The Reflecting Telescope and the Pursuit of Spiral Nebulae
• The Further Refinement of Deep Space Photography
• Probing Deeper into the Unknown: Nebulae Everywhere
• A Passion for Capturing the Sky
• Dark Clouds, Star Fields, and the Exploration of the Milky Way
• The Large Light Buckets: Deep Space Photography Passes to the Professionals
• Measuring the Universe: Cepheids, Edwin Hubble, and the Standard Candle
• The Expanding Universe: A New Paradigm of Cosmology
• The Invention of the Schmidt Camera and the Birth of Deep Sky Surveys
• 4 The Universe in Color and the Transition to Electronic Imaging
• The Birth of Color Astrophotography: The Colors of Andromeda
• The Hues of Heaven
• David Malin and Three-Color Additive Photography
• Rediscovering the Horsehead
• Of Comets and Tails: The Spectacle of Hale-Bopp
• Moving on from Film: The Arrival of Electronic Imaging
• The CCD Arrives: Extraordinary Imaging from Ordinary Places
• An Unexpected Discovery
• The Photopic Sky Survey
• Fossils from an Earlier Universe
• Einstein's Cross (A Cosmic Mirage)
• 5 The Hubble Telescope and the Era of Satellite Observatories
• The Plasma Jet of M87
• Proplyds of M42
• The Eta Carinae Homunculus
• The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared Light
• M16: The Pillars of Creation
• The Antennae: Snapshot of a Cosmic Collision
• The Crab Supernova Remnant
• The Anomalous Arms of M106
• Supernova 1987A
• NGC 604: Close Up of an Extragalactic Stellar Nursery
• R136: The Core Cluster of 30 Doradus
• M51: Lord Rosse's Spiral Nebula
• Starburst Galaxy M82 and Its Superwind
• The Trifid Nebula
• The Sombrero Galaxy
• The Helix Nebula
• The Cat's Eye Nebula
• Light Echoes from V838 Monocerotis
• The Fate of Comet Shoemaker-Levy-9
• NGC 1999
• The Hubble Deep Field
• IC 349: Barnard's Merope Nebula
• Fomalhaut b
• M100 Cepheids: A New Cosmic Yardstick
• Sh2-106: A Celestial Snow Angel
• The Hubble Frontier Field and Abell 2744
• Mystic Mountain: HH 901 and HH 902
• The Hourglass Nebula
• Saturn's Aurora
• M101: A Perfect Pinwheel
• NGC 3603: Starburst in the Carina Arm
• 100 Million Stars in Andromeda
• 6 The Multiwavelength Universe
• Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)
• COBE: The Earliest Light
• WMAP: Cosmology Becomes a Precision Science
• Planck: Further Refining the Primordial Universe
• The Helix in Infrared Light (Spitzer)
• Chandra's Crab: A Cosmic Generator
• The Radio Lobes and Galactic Jets of Centaurus A
• The Bullet Cluster and the Detection of Dark Matter
• The Ultraviolet Sun from the Solar Dynamics Observatory
• M31 in Infrared: Clues to the Story of Andromeda
• The Galactic Center Across the Spectrum
• The Tycho Supernova Remnant (SN1572)
• Cassiopeia A: A Cosmic Wreckage
• Hercules A in Radio Light
• The Gamma Ray Universe
• Mira's Tail in Ultraviolet Light
• 7 Photographing Worlds Explored by Manned and Robotic Spacecraft
• The Hellish Surface of the Planet Venus
• The Heavily Cratered Face of Mars
• Vega 1 at Comet Halley
• Earthrise Above the Moon's Shoulder
• The First Walk in Space
• Boots on the Lunar Soil
• A Precise Moon Landing
• The Fateful Voyage of Apollo 13
• Illuminating the Dark Side of the Moon
• The Great Red Spot of Jupiter and the Rings of Saturn
• The Methane Lakes of Saturn's Moon Titan
• The Fountains of Enceladus
• Capturing Solar Prominences Without an Eclipse
• The Face on Mars
• Martian Blueberries
• The Icy Subsurface of Mars
• Portrait of Planet Earth
• Image Sources