Photography of objects in the night sky, such as the Moon, planets, stars, galaxies and comets. Some astrophotographers attach a camera to a telescope. Others use normal lenses for wide views of the Milky Way and star trails.
Long exposures, often with a mount that follows the movement of the stars, can record faint objects that the naked eye cannot see. Many photographers also combine many images into one, called stacking, to reduce noise. One of the first astronomical photographs was a daguerreotype of the Moon made by John William Draper in 1840.
History
As early as 1840, John William Draper photographed the Moon. In 1874, photographers at the Royal Observatory recorded the transit of Venus on camera for the first time.
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