The History of Astronomical Imaging

Dr. Lance Simms will talk about the history of astronomical imaging. Most people know that Galileo revolutionized the field of astronomy when he pointed a telescope up at the heavens in 1610. What is not as widely known is that a similar revolution occurred when John William Draper first moved away from the human eye as the primary astronomical sensor in 1840 and used photographs instead. In this talk, Dr. Simmms will give a brief overview of the history of astronomical imaging and the incredible impact it has had in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology. Along the way, he will delve into a bit of detail on how modern Charge Coupled Devices and CMOS imagers work.