Perhaps you’ve seen that viral image that compares the very first image ever taken of Orion all the way back in the 1800’s to the most detailed. What’s not to love about something that shows how much technology has progressed over the last 200 years—about how astrophotography looked before computers, before cell phones, and before the internet? “Modern” astrostrophotography didn’t get a footing until long after the 1800’s… one could even assert that the launch of Hubble coincided with its rise. But we’ve certainly come a long way since then.
Let’s take a look at various regions within and outside of our galaxy and see how they’ve changed in the face of evolving technology…
Note from author: Yes, we know that the sliders are small, but back in the 90’s, high-resolution imaging wasn’t commonplace. Nor were we able to secure larger “then” images (ergo, we are working with what we have). It’s also important to note that only a few of these images were taken using the same telescope. Imaging power obviously dictates how clearly regions can be resolved, not just the date on which an image as taken. Even now, grainy images similar to these “then” examples are captured by amateurs all over the globe. Yet, in each case, we tried to use the best image of the structure to compare it with the more modern images.
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A long time ago, people believed many things that we now know to be untrue. These things include the notion that Earth is flat and that the Sun revolves around Earth. Relevantly, people also once believed that no other galaxy existed beyond our own. Of course, this is very untrue. Not only do other galaxies exist, but there are trillions of them.
None of which are more well-known than the Andromeda Galaxy. In those times, ancient astronomers knew this sprawling spiral galaxy as nothing more than a fuzzy collection of stars they called the Andromeda nebula.
The image on the left (taken by Isaac Roberts in 1888) is the very first image ever taken of the Andromeda Galaxy, while the image on the right was captured in 2009.
Image Credits: (Left) Issac Roberts (Right) Fabian Neyer/Antares Observatory
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The galaxy in both frames is one of the most pleasing lenticular galaxies I can think of, called Centaurus A (also known as NGC 5128). It can be found about 12 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus). Other than being very complex and unusual, Centaurus A (‘Cen A’ for short) happens to be a radio galaxy AND one of the brightest galaxies in our local group.
Importantly, Cen A, like pretty much all massive galaxies in existence, hosts a supermassive black hole at its core. This feature happens to be the driving force behind much of the galaxy’s features, including the jets of light and radiation streaming from its poles.
The newest image (taken in 2000) also captures 800 globular clusters.The old image was chosen as the APOD for August 28, 1995
Credits: (Left) NOAO, Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory (Right) ESO
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Even back in 1997 (when the image on the left was chosen as NASA’s photo of the day), the Whirlpool Galaxy was picturesque. However, as you can see, technology has been kind to us where the Whirlpool is concerned. Now, we can see the galaxy as it was meant to be seen: in near perfect clarity.
M51 can be found more than 30 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Canes Venatic.
Image Credits: (Left) W. Keel (U. Alabama), 1.1-meter Hall Telescope, Lowell Observatory (Right) NASA/ESA
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This is the Perseus Galaxy Cluster; one of the largest collective objects that can be made out in our night sky. Each grainy, indiscriminate blob of light is an entire galaxy (many of the galaxies that appear in the image are much more distant than the Perseus galaxies themselves, which lie about 250 million light years from Earth in the Perseus constellation).
Amazingly, modern technology has allowed us to gather unbelievable insight into this section of sky. For instance, astronomers know that this galaxy could prove instrumental in solving the dark matter mystery. The older image was chosen as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) on August 15, 1998
Image Credits: (Left) Digitized Sky Survey (Right) R. Jay GaBany
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When it was chosen as NASA’S APOD on July 23, 1995, very few people were familiar with this spectacular nebula; called the Trifid nebula (formally known as M20). Since then, Trifid has become one of the most famous and easily recognizable star-forming regions in our galaxy.
This is partially because of its brightness (which is surpassed by very few nebular clouds) and its easy to define features, but its beauty certainly doesn’t hurt either.
Image Credits: (Left) Hopkins Observatory, Karen Gloria (Right) Bill Snyder
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From this vantage point (in the first frame), the focal galaxy — called M82 (also known as the Cigar Galaxy) — is essentially unrecognizable.Taken as a part of the Electric Universe Project, technology of the time wasn’t capable of picturing this busy radio galaxy, and all of its riches, with clarity like modern telescopes can.
The image on the right was chosen on July 28, 1995 as NASA’s featured image of the day. The newer image, which was taken with the Subaru Telescope’s 8.2-m mirror, was captured in 2013.
Image Credits: (Left) The Electronic Universe Project (right) NAOJ
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Of all of the images we’ve shown, we only singled out one star cluster, which happens to be the most famous: Pleiades (also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters).
While indeed, they are commonly called the seven sisters, there are only six stars prominent enough to be seen with an unaided eye. However, there might be well over 1,000 stars lurking nearby, spanning across 43 light-years of spacetime.
As a fun aside, the older image has the important distinction of being one of the very first images ever featured as NASA’s APOD (the second one, to be specific). It was posted on June 20th, 1995.
Image Credits: (Left) Mount Wilson Observatory (Right) NASA/ESA/AURA/Caltech
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During Hubble’s earliest year in orbit around Earth, its Wide Field Planetary Camera suffered a major mishap that prevented it from reaching its full potential. Thankfully, the Advance Camera 2 was fitted not long after, finally letting Hubble show off its imaging chops. On the left, we have an image taken of Messier 100 in November of 1993.Next to it, we have an image taken after the Advance Camera 2 was put in the affected camera’s place.We included this entry to show just how one minor thing can improve how we see the universe in major ways.
Image Credits: NASA/JPL/Hubble Team
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Taken sometime in 1995, this Hubble masterpiece captures the spectacularly odd “Cartwheel Galaxy.” Its unusual structure can be attributed to turbulent times in its past, when it danced the cosmic lambada with an unseen galaxy.The old image was released on February 20th, 1994 (taken by Hubble), while the newer image is a false-colored composite that captures the galaxy at multiple wavelengths.
Image Credits: (Left) NAOJ (Right) NASA, ESA
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The Crab nebula is certainly one of the most well-known “then and now” entries listed here.Formally classified as M1 or NGC 1952, the Crab nebula lurks about 6,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Taurus.Like many similar nebulae, this stellar region is essentially all that remains of a massive star that exploded as a supernova. There is also a pulsar tucked away in its core.
Image Credits: (Left) University of Oregon (Right) NASA/ESA and Jeff Hester (Arizona State University)
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