The Moon by John Adams Whipple, 1857–60
In December 1849, John Whipple made his first photograph of the moon, a daguerreotype taken through the telescope at the Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge. Although he did not make the first lunar photograph in America, in terms of accuracy and aesthetics Whipple produced what were internationally recognized as the most sublime photographs of the moon. This study, made with his partner James Black, recalls the maxim in astronomy: the more clearly one can see an object in space, the more beautiful it looks.
via: Metropolitan Museum
