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Catchers of the Light >
VII - Photographic Sky Surveys
‘Carte de Ciel’ Plate of the ‘Pleiades’ (M45), Greenwich; Cordoba Astrograph
" ...to catalogue the stars on each plate, to measure them for the purpose only of getting their places written down, would be the most utter waste of time, labour, and money that it could enter the mind of man to conceive."
Andrew Ainslie Common (1841-1903) & Herbert Hall Turner (1861-1930)
Includes the three chapters on 'Photographic Sky Surveys', i.e. Amedee Mouchez, David Gill and HIPPARCOS. Buy at a discounted price.
Part VII
Amedee Mouchez, the hero of France and the driving force behind the doomedf 'Carte de Ciel' project. From the very outset it lacked the necessary technology of machine readble data and searchable digital databases to succeed.
Ch.VII.1
David Gill, the son of an Aberdeen clockmaker who was destined to succeed where Amedde Mouchez failed and was as such the first person ever complete a Photographic Sky Survey on time and within budget.
Ch.VII.2
The 'Carte de Ciel' was a project that remained 'unachieved'; the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung was a success; the Palomar Observatory Sky Surveys made use of a superb Schmidtspiegel; and the Digital Sky Survey used the right technology.
Ch.VII.3
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