20 AUSTRALIAN SKY & TELESCOPE JULY 2016
BULA WARS
ALAN HIRSHFELDMore than a century ago, a clash between two pioneer sky photographers deepened
the growing split between amateur and professional astronomy.I
n 1890, astronomy was the enterprise of a scattered
coalition of amateur and professional scientists
working on a roughly equal basis. Both camps
conducted essential observations, innovated
with new technology, published important
papers, attended conferences, joined
scientific organisations and received
awards of merit.
But as that crucial decade
progressed, distinctions between
the two groups rapidly began to
widen — in terms of academic
credentials, mathematical acumen,
and, most devastating to the amateurs,
thescientificvalueoftheirwork.
Disruptive new technologies — photography
and spectroscopy — were fast overtaking
traditional visual observation. Productivity
imperatives, and the escalating
cost of leading-edge equipment,
increasingly displaced gentlemens’
private observatories in favour of
externally funded institutions with
professional staffs. By the decade’s
end, amateur researchers found
themselves effectively sidelined by their
institutional brethren.
Then as now, disagreements among
astronomers over physical theories, working
methods and interpretation of data were routine,
whether through correspondence, at conferences
or in the pages of research journals. But of all the
disputes during this period, by far the longest and
most fractious was the battle between two pioneers ofcelestial photography: Isaac Roberts, a wealthy English
amateur, and Edward Emerson Barnard of the Lick
and Yerkes observatories. Their exchange spawned a
debate over the nature of diffuse nebulae that
would roil the ranks of astronomy for nearly
ten years.
The Welsh-born Isaac Roberts had
made a fortune in the construction
business, and he applied his wealth
toward an ambitious program in
celestial photography. His observatory
at Crowborough, Sussex, was among
the finest in Britain, housing a 50-cm
f/5 Grubb reflector and a 175-mm
Cooke refractor sharing a twin mount.
Roberts took a celebrated four-hour exposure
of the Andromeda Nebula that drew gasps
at an 1889 meeting of astronomers,
who were awed by its jaw-droppingly
clear depiction of the mysterious
space-cloud’s spiral structure.
Roberts published a two-volume
photographic atlas of star clusters
and ‘nebulae’ (galaxies included)
in 1893 and 1899. It was a testament
to the tenacity with which he ranged
over the celestial menagerie. He took
nearly 2,500 astronomical plates during his
lifetime. For his uncommon skill in rendering
thecosmiclandscape,Robertswaselectedtothe
RoyalSociety,receivedanhonorarydoctoratefrom
Trinity College, Dublin, and was awarded the Royal
Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal.
On May 10, 1895, Roberts stepped up to the lecternISAAC
ROBERTS
(1829–1904)
was an
immensely
skilled and
productive
amateur who
blazed deep sky
photography
trails but tripped
up on his inability
to unlearn wrong
ideas.E. E. BARNARD
(1857–1923)
was a school
dropout but
developed the
technical skills
and the scientific
discernment
to carry him
through an
illustrious career
at Lick and Yerkes
observatories. ROBERTS: LICK OBSERVATORY / UC SANTA CRUZ; BARNARD: WIKIPEDIA / BILD-PDAmateur vs Professional