Found a photo of the Andromeda galaxy taken in 1888 and I had no clue they could capture that back then

Aaron Harris · 2026-10-06T15:55:03.414903+00:00

I was digging through the Harvard plate archive online and found one labeled M31 from 1888 by Isaac Roberts, a 4 hour exposure on a glass plate. How did they even track the stars for 4 hours with hand cranks, does anyone know what mount he actually used?

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Found a photo of the Andromeda galaxy taken in 1888 and I had no clue they could capture that back then | Astronomy Photos - The Community Guide