![]() E. E. Barnard and the Willard lens, ca. 1890
Edward Emerson Barnard was an indefatigable observer, rarely missing a clear night, or even
letting an opening in the clouds slip by without seizing the opportunity to observe.
He was known on Mount Hamilton as "the man who never sleeps."
This picture shows Barnard with the
Willard lens—the camera with
which he made his spectacular images of the Milky Way and comets—in its early form, before
it had a mount of its own. In the picture, Barnard is using Lick's 6-inch refractor, to which he
has strapped the camera, both for its equatorial mounting and as a guide telescope for keeping the
camera accurately pointed. His heavy coat and the awkward position, which he had to maintain for
the long exposures—some of which lasted hours—attest to his physical stamina and
dedication to his work. (The scene is, of course, posed for the picture. Barnard would have worked
in darkness.)
|