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95/239/25 Photographic print, mounted on card, lightning strikes taken from Sydney Observatory, paper / albumen emulsion, photographer Henry Chamberlain Russell, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1892. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 2, 95/239/25 Photographic print, mounted on card, lightning strikes taken from Sydney Observatory, paper / albumen emulsion, photographer Henry Chamberlain Russell, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1892. Click to enlarge
  • Image 2 of 2, 95/239/25 Photographic print, mounted on card, lightning strikes taken from Sydney Observatory, paper / albumen emulsion, photographer Henry Chamberlain Russell, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1892. Click to enlarge

Photograph of lightning strikes from Sydney Observatory

By the end of the nineteenth century the Sydney Observatory had embarked on several major photographic projects. By this period the advances of astronomy by the aid of photography were numerous: the moon was first photographed in 1840; in 1850 a star; in 1854 a solar eclipse; in 1872 the spectrum of a star, in 1880 a nebula; in 1881 a comet; in 1897 the spectrum of a meteor; and in 1898 a stellar occultation of the moon.

Russell understood the significant role photography was beginning to …

Summary

Object No.

95/239/25

Object Statement

Photographic print, mounted on card, lightning strikes taken from Sydney Observatory, paper / albumen emulsion, photographer Henry Chamberlain Russell, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1892

Physical Description

Albumen print, mounted, featuring an image of several bolts of lightning over the Balmain peninsula and striking the water. The image includes views of Darling Harbour and was taken from Sydney Observatory towards the west.

Marks

Handwritten on front mount 'Photograph of Lightning / Taken at Sydney Observatory / Dec 7 1892.'
Text on the reverse in ink reads'The negative was exposed 4 minutes (8h12m to 8h 16m pm) and the general illumination / of the 5 flashes gives a faint picture of the landscape. / The point at which the flash entered Darling Harbour being known it became / possible to calculate with some degree of accuracy its length from / the top of the flash to the water. and it was found to be 1540 feet. / HCR / 24.12.92'.

Short URL

https://ma.as/146302

Dimensions

Height

250 mm

Width

305 mm

Source

Credit Line

Gift of Dr Lucy Crowley, 1995

Acquisition Date

5 September 1995

Cite this Object

Harvard

Photograph of lightning strikes from Sydney Observatory 2022, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 26 March 2023, <https://ma.as/146302>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/146302 |title=Photograph of lightning strikes from Sydney Observatory |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=26 March 2023 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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