Henry Draper (1837-1882),American astronomer. Draper's father,John William Draper,was a pioneer of astrophotography,taking the first daguerrotype of the Moon in 1940. Henry became involved in his father's projects,and after completing his medical degree began designing and building telescopes. He advanced the field of astrophotography,photographing numerous celestial bodies and phenomena. He was the first to photograph a nebula,the Orion nebula,in 1880,and he directed an expedition to photograph the transit of Venus in 1874. He died of double pleurisy aged only 45 |