'The Great Nebula of Orion', 26 February 1883

The Great Nebula of Orion', 26 February 1883. Photograph of the Great Nebula in Orion, taken 26 February 1883 by Andrew Ainsle Common (1841-1903), an acclaimed early pioneer of astrophotography. A successful heating engineer and amateur astronomer, this image was made using Common's 36-inch reflecting telescope at his home in Ealing, West London in England. This is one of the first high-resolution photographs of the nebula and clearly shows details invisible to observers using the naked eye alone. The Orion nebula, visible to the naked eye as a hazy patch, was first recorded being observed with a telescope in 1610 by Frenchman, Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc. A large glowing cloud of hydrogen gas where new stars form, the nebula lies at a distance of some 1500 light-years. ©SSPL/Science Museum