Warren de la Rue's 13 inch reflecting telescope, 1858-1864

Warren de la Rue's 13 inch reflecting telescope, 1858-1864. Calotype print taken by James Nasmyth (1808-1890), between 1858-1864, which originates from his own album. It shows Warren De La Rue's (1815-1889) 13-inch reflecting telescope in its observatory at Cranford, Middlesex in England. A pioneer of astrophotography, De La Rue used this telescope to take a series of early photographs of the Moon. A difficult task, as the wet collodion plates that were then available were far less sensitive to light compared to modern films. This required exposures of several minutes through his telescope using a clock-driven equatorial mounting. ©SSPL/Science Museum