THE VERY FIRST IMAGE OF THE MOON While this image may not be impressive by today’s standards,

THE VERY FIRST IMAGE OF THE MOONWhile this image may not be impressive by today’s standards, this is impressive due to the technology of the time. This is indeed the very first image of the Moon, captured by John William Draper March 26, 1840. It is a daguerreotype print, also known as silver platinum plate, and was the first of a series of silver platinum plates Draper shot using a telescope.Draper, originally from England, immigrated to the United States where he became a chemistry professor at NYU. He was the first person to shoot a portrait in America, which was a photo of his sister, Dorothy-Catherine (photo reproduction here: http://bit.ly/1aUga54). He became the first president of the American Chemical Society in 1876 and was also a founder of the New York University School of Medicine. Both his son and his granddaughter became astronomers, while another son became a chemist.For Draper’s first attempt at astrophotography, he made the Moon’s rays pass by the reflection of a heliostat through a lens 10 centimetres (4 inches) in diameter and 4.5 metres (15 feet) in focus. Unfortunately his exposure time of 30 minutes was too long, resulting in a partially blackened, overexposed plate. Draper was later able to capture another image of a seventeen-day-old moon by using two lenses and exposing the plate for 45 minutes. The result was a more detailed daguerreotype of the Moon’s surface.Draper used his rooftop observatory at NYU’s main building to capture more astrophotographs. Ultimately he captured the image shown: a mirror-reversed image of the last quarter Moon, which resulted in a highly detailed lunar daguerreotype.Draper made subsequent daguerreotypes of the Moon in 1843 that displayed new features in the visible spectrum. He also developed the theory in 1842 that only light rays can produce chemical change; this later came to be known as the Grotthuss–Draper law. In 1847 he published his observation that all solids glow red at about the same temperature, around 798K (977°F). This was later known as the Draper point.Draper’s lecture on his paper “On the Intellectual Development of Europe, considered with reference to the views of Mr. Darwin and others, that the progression of organisms is determined by law” was featured as part of the Oxford evolution debate on 30 May, 1860. Draper’s lecture applied a Darwinian metaphor of adaptation and environment to social and political studies.Draper died on January 4, 1882 at the age of 70, at his home in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He was survived by 6 children.-TELDraper, John W., “First Astronomical Photograph - Draper’s Moon Daguerreotype,” Greenwich Village History, accessed July 8, 2013, http://gvh.aphdigital.org/items/show/119http://exp.lore.com/post/51512302598/the-very-first-photo-of-the-moon-taken-by-johnImage: Draper, John W. -- source link

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