Friday 13 November 2020

Franklin Adams Charts and a 10 inch Cooke

 

Franklin Adams Charts and a 10 inch Cooke

John Franklin Adams photographed the entire night sky between 1904 and 1909 from Godalming in Surrey from the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere South Africa using a 10 inch Cooke camera and two 6 inch Cooke cameras.



In 1913 the Royal Astronomical Society undertook to publish a small number of the Franklin Adams Charts. The 206 photographic plates covered the entire sky. Each plate covered an area 15 degrees by 15 degrees.



The reproductions were on bromide paper 15 inches by 12 inches with the plate area being 11inches by 11 inches. The cost of each set will be 10 guineas in 2020 this would be over £1,150!!

It is hoped that a sufficient number of subscribers will be enlisted to help to defray the cost of such an expensive undertaking. It is hoped that they will be ready in 1914.

Today the Franklin Adams Charts are still used by astronomers due to their quality and their historical reference to the night sky of over 100 years ago.


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