Truth at the Eyepiece—exploring disjunctions between past and present astronomical imagery
Speaker: Randall Rosenfeld, RASC Archivist
Since the advent of telescopic astronomy four centuries ago it's been a constant that visual records of observations should only show what is seen at the eyepiece, and no more. The integrity of astronomy as an observational science depends on this. Looking back over the images produced in the course of those four centuries can be an unsettling experience, for many of them don't at all resemble what we perceive at the eyepiece now, despite the claims of the original observers for the faithfulness of their visions. What is going on here?
This webinar surveys some of the issues involved through confronting the images, and explores some of the possible reasons why they may look odd to us, and the implications for what "truth at the eyepiece" may really mean.
As background to this talk, the sort of images which will be discussed, and questions they raise can be found in this supplement.