Imaging the Heavens: The Scientific and Cultural Significance of the Norman Lockyer Observatory Image Archive

19世纪末在天文学中不再使用人眼和手绘插图，这不仅反映了天文学的技术进步，也反映了更广泛的文化转向理性主义。公众对科学的兴趣与新的技术能力成比例增长，随着人眼让位于维多利亚时代晚期天文台的照相底片，社会对客观性的新强调似乎已经不可逆转地改变了对恒星的研究。我的研究问题围绕着这种变化在维多利亚晚期视觉文化背景下的文化相关性。在他1877年的著作《天文学》中，诺曼·洛克耶通过将行星、太阳系和星系之间的关系与教区、县、国家和大陆之间的关系进行比较，来描述它们之间的关系。这种基础天文学的地方性呈现，加上手绘插图，与洛克耶从1880年开始分析和呈现的星体图像非常不同。这些照片的科学分支使这位业余天文学家拥有了对他的作品的权威。技术上更健全的摄影乳剂使洛克耶能够开始记录恒星演化的理论。这些超凡脱俗的科学图像可能提供了一条有趣的途径，通过它可以将这位业余科学家视为维多利亚时代视觉文化发展中的重要人物。除了光谱板和天文图像，我还打算包括观察笔记、洛克耶的信件和研究论文，以及埃克塞特大学档案馆的洛克耶的星历。将这些与其他收藏交叉参考，如哈佛大学的摄影版收藏，将提供对天文学更广泛的历史背景的洞察。传统上，维多利亚时代视觉文化的研究因特定学科而严重分裂，这是我在分析光谱版时想要挑战的东西。就我将采用的方法而言，这不会存在于任何一种批判性理论中，因为我的主要来源的特殊性质要求采取多方面的方法。因此，我对NLO档案的研究将引入历史主义、视觉分析的元素，并利用我在学习文学时获得的文本技能。洛克耶的恒星进化理论是开创性的，但有缺陷，这个科学发现的故事是在NLO的技术范围内讲述的，我将审查这一事实所固有的张力。NLO档案中物体的物理属性，如光谱板，对该项目的历史方面具有重要意义，还没有被广泛记录下来。理想情况下，我希望我的项目注意到西南地区的非LO的持续相关性以及它在二十世纪初对科学界的重要意义。这个项目必须在实地完成研究，所以我将访问西德茅斯的NLO以及埃克塞特的档案。

The departure from the use of the human eye and hand-drawn illustration in astronomy at the end of the nineteenth century reflects not only the technological advances of the fin de siècle but a wider cultural shift towards rationalism. Public interest in science had grown in proportion to new technological capabilities, and as the human eye gave way to the photographic plates in the observatories of the late Victorian period, it appeared as if society's new-found emphasis on objectivity had changed the study of the stars irrevocably. My research questions revolve around the cultural relevance of this change in the context of late Victorian visual culture. In his 1877 book Astronomy, Norman Lockyer characterises the relationships between planets, solar systems, and galaxies by comparing them to the relationships between parishes, counties, countries, and continents. This parochial presentation of basic astronomy, embellished by hand-drawn illustration, is very different to the astral images Lockyer would be analysing and presenting from 1880 onwards. The scientific ramifications of the photographs allowed the amateur astronomer an authority over his productions. More technically sound photographic emulsions had enabled Lockyer to begin documenting a theory of stellar evolution. These otherworldly scientific images may provide an interesting avenue through which to view the amateur scientist as an important figure in the development of Victorian visual culture. In addition to the spectrum plates and astronomical images, I intend to include observation notes, Lockyer's letters, and research papers, as well as Lockyer's ephemera from the University of Exeter Archives. Cross-referencing these with other collections, such as Harvard's Photographic Plate Collection, will provide an insight into the broader historical context of fin de siècle astronomy.Traditionally, studies in Victorian visual culture have been deeply divided by specific disciplines, and this is something I would like to challenge in my analysis of the spectrum plates. In terms of the methodology I will be employing, this will not lie in any one strand of critical theory, because the special nature of my primary sources demands a multifaceted approach. Therefore, my study of the NLO archives will bring in elements of historicism, visual analysis, and make use of the textual skills I have acquired whilst studying literature. I will examine the tension inherent in that fact that Lockyer's theories of stellar evolution were groundbreaking but flawed, and that this story of scientific discovery is told within the technology of the NLO. The physical attributes of objects in the NLO archives, such as spectrum plates, are significant to the historical aspect of the project, and have not been extensively written on. Ideally, I would like my project to take note of the continuing relevance of the NLO in the South-West as well as its significance to the scientific community in the early twentieth century. Research must be completed in the field for this project, so I will visit the NLO in Sidmouth as well as archives in Exeter.