A tiny, moving point of light. Copies of the Photographs use for the discovery of Pluto. Credit: Lowell Observatory. January 1930BlazeObsidian t1_j6e5z67 wrote
I'm curious now. Are these actual sizes of the photographs ? If yes that's amazing attention to detail.
Aeromarine_eng OP t1_j6ek8v7 wrote
A blink comparator was used.
> The photographic plates Tombaugh was comparing with this machine were 36 x 43 centimeters (14 x 17 inches), and were long exposures taken with a telescopic camera that sported a powerful 33-centimeter (13-inch) diameter lens.
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/finding-pluto-blink-comparator
ItchyK t1_j6h40co wrote
They would switch back and forth between multiple photos of the same spot. Makes it way easier to see differences. Although I do believe he went through hundreds, if not thousands of images looking for a tiny dot moving.
TheLit420 t1_j6jfsdx wrote
There's a website where you can use similar images to try and identify new objects. I think it's called Planet Nine or something. But the images in this post are much better resolution than the ones on that website. And I still can't tell how they could identify Pluto from these images.
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