Glass positive of Pluto discovery

Made:
1930 in Flagstaff
photographer:
Carl Otto Lampland
maker:
Science Museum
Pluto discovery photograph, 1930. Glass positive of :- The new planet Pluto; Lowell Observatory 42-inch Reflector. Glass positive of :- The new planet Pluto; Lowell Observatory 42-inch Reflector. Copywork

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Pluto discovery photograph, 1930. Glass positive of :- The new planet Pluto; Lowell Observatory 42-inch Reflector.
Carl Otto Lampland. Enquiries to Science Museum, London
Carl Otto Lampland. Enquiries to Science Museum, London

Glass positive of :- The new planet Pluto; Lowell Observatory 42-inch Reflector. Copywork
Carl Otto Lampland. Enquiries to Science Museum, London
Carl Otto Lampland. Enquiries to Science Museum, London

Glass positive of the planet Pluto; Lowell Observatory 42-inch Reflector. Focal length 220 ins. March 2d 4h 56m. C.O. Lampland 12"x8". Prepared from silver print (from R.A.S.No. 416) lent by Sir James Jeans.

From 1930 until 2006, our Solar System had nine planets. Tiny Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh, who was searching for a predicted ‘Planet X’ that might explain oddities in the orbits of Neptune and Uranus.

Tombaugh’s photographs show the same patch of sky a few nights apart. One ‘star’ seems to have moved, indicating that it is actually a planet. Astronomers later discounted the idea of Planet X – Pluto had just been in the right place at the right time. It was controversially demoted to ‘dwarf planet’ in 2006.

Details

Category:
Astronomy
Object Number:
1930-680
Measurements:
depth: 3mm
height: 305mm
width: 205mm
overall (laid flat): 7 mm x 305 mm x 205 mm, 0.808 kg
type:
black-and-white transparency
taxonomy:
  • visual and verbal communication
  • photograph
  • positive - photograph
credit:
Science Museum