Plates are cataloged by plate series and plate number. Each series typically represents a single telescope although some series, notably the "mb" series consists of data from multiple telescopes. Telescopes were occasionally moved to other observatories depending on observational goals.
The following table represents all of the Harvard plate series currently in the database.
The plate scale, if available, comes from the WCS fitting algorithm. Otherwise, the scale comes from archive records. The values provided here are not definitive for early "mc" plates before the objective was refigured, and for the multiple-telescope "mb" series.
There are currently 88 series in the database. The primary source of this information comes from Martha Hazen's History of the Plate Series. To see this source information, click on the series name in the table below.
seriesId | Series | Aperture (m) | Scale (arcsec/mm) | Telescope |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | a | 0.6 | 59.57 | 24-inch Bruce Doublet |
37 | ab | 0.0635 | 590 | 2.5-inch Ross Portrait Lens |
2 | ac | 0.038 | 606.4 | 1.5-inch Cooke Lenses |
38 | acmisc | ac-b logbook. No plates. | ||
39 | aco | 0.0254 | 611.3 | 1 in Cook Lens #832 Series renamed from ac-a |
3 | adh | 0.76 | 68 | 32-36 inch BakerSchmidt 10 1/2 inch round Armagh-Dunsink-Harvard |
40 | ai | 0.038 | 1360 | Patrol cameras |
41 | ak | 0.038 | 614.5 | 1.5 in Cooke "Long Focus" |
4 | al | 0.038 | 1200 | Cooke Short Focus |
5 | am | 0.038 | 610.8 | 1-inch, 1.5-inch Cooke Lenses |
42 | an | 574 | New Cooke Lens | |
43 | ax | 0.076 | 695.7 | 3 inch Ross-Tessar Lens |
44 | ay | 0.066 | 694.2 | 2.6-inch Zeiss-Tessar |
79 | ayroe | 0.152 | Roe 6-inch | |
6 | b | 0.2 | 179.4 | 8-inch Bache Doublet, Voigtlander, reworked by Clark |
45 | bc | 0.406 | 16-inch Boller & Chivens | |
46 | bi | 0.038 | 1446 | 1.5 inch Ross (short focus) |
7 | bm | 0.075 | 384 | 3-inch Ross |
47 | bo | 0.0635 | 800 | 2.5 inch Voigtlander (Little Bache or "Bachito") |
8 | br | 0.2 | 204 | 8-inch Brashear Lens |
9 | c | 0.3 | 84 | 11-inch Draper Refractor |
48 | ca | 0.0635 | 596 | 2.5 inch Cooke Lens |
10 | d | Positives | ||
49 | darnor | 890 | Darlot Lens North | |
50 | darsou | 890 | Darlot Lens South | |
11 | dnb | 0.042 | 577.3 | Damons North Blue |
12 | dnr | 0.042 | 579.7 | Damons North Red |
13 | dny | 0.042 | 576.1 | Damons North Yellow |
14 | dsb | 0.042 | 574.5 | Damons South Blue |
15 | dsr | 0.042 | 579.7 | Damons South Red |
16 | dsy | 0.042 | 581.8 | Damons South Yellow |
51 | ee | 0.102 | 330 | 4-inch Voightlander Lens |
52 | er | 0.076 | 390 | 3-inch Elmer Ross |
17 | fa | 0.038 | 1298 | 1.5-inch Ross-Xpress |
18 | h | 0.6 | 59.6 | 24-inch Clark Reflector |
53 | hsl | Henrietta Leavitt Logbooks. No plates. | ||
19 | i | 0.2 | 163.3 | 8-inch Draper Doublet, Voigtlander Reworked by Clark |
20 | ir | 0.2 | 164 | 8-inch Ross Lundin |
21 | j | 0.6 | 98 | 24-33 in Jewett Schmidt |
54 | jdar | 0.076 | 560 | 3-inch Darlot (Series renamed from j) |
86 | ka | 0.071 | 1200 | 2.8-inch Kodak Aero-Ektar |
87 | kb | 0.071 | 1200 | 2.8-inch Kodak Aero-Ektar |
88 | kc | 0.127 | 650 | K-19 Air Force Camera |
89 | kd | 0.127 | 650 | Air Force Camera |
90 | ke | 0.071 | 1160 | Eastman Aero-Ektar K-24 Lens on a K-19 Barrel |
91 | kf | 0.071 | 1160 | Eastman Aero-Ektar K-24 Lens on a K-19 Barrel |
92 | kg | 0.071 | 1160 | Eastman Aero-Ektar K-24 Lens on a K-19 Barrel Formerly KE |
93 | kge | 0.071 | 1160 | Eastman Aero-Ektar K-24 Lens on a K-19 Barrel Formerly KE |
94 | kh | 0.071 | 1160 | KE Camera with Installed Rough Focus |
56 | m | 0.127 | 5-in Voightlander Transit Photometer | |
22 | ma | 0.3 | 93.7 | 12-inch Metcalf Doublet |
23 | mb | 0.1 | 390 | 4-inch Cooke (1-327), 6-inch (328-1776) 3-inch Ross Lundin (2388-2722) |
24 | mc | 0.4 | 97.9 | 16-inch Metcalf Doublet (Refigured after 3500) |
25 | md | 0.1 | 193 | 4-inch Cooke Lens |
82 | me | 0.038 | 600 | 1.5-inch Cooke Lenses |
26 | meteor | 0.3 | 1200 | |
27 | mf | 0.25 | 167.3 | 10-inch Metcalf Triplet |
55 | misc | Logbook Only. Pages without plates. | ||
57 | n | Transit Photometer | ||
58 | nviews | Landscapes and views (Series renamed from n) | ||
60 | o | Stellar | ||
59 | oa | Stellar | ||
61 | p | Eclipse Plates | ||
81 | pz | 0.076 | 1553 | 3 inch Perkin-Zeiss Lens |
64 | q | Emulsion and Lens Tests | ||
62 | qa | Emulsion and Lens Tests | ||
63 | qb | Emulsion and Lens Tests | ||
29 | r | 0.075 | 390 | 3-inch Ross Fecker |
65 | ra | Prints of Neg. Post (?) Enlargements | ||
30 | rb | 0.075 | 395.5 | 3-inch Ross Fecker |
31 | rh | 0.075 | 391.3 | 3-inch Ross Fecker |
32 | rl | 0.1 | 290 | 4-inch Ross Lundin |
66 | ro | 390 | ||
67 | rp | |||
68 | s | 1.52 | 26.3 | 60 inch Common |
33 | sb | 1.5 | 26 | 60-inch Rockefeller Reflector |
34 | sh | 1.5 | 26 | 61-inch Wyeth Reflector |
77 | solar | Solar (Series Discarded) | ||
69 | sp | Spectrum SH Plates | ||
70 | sq | SB Spectrum Plates | ||
71 | t | Sky Photometer | ||
72 | vq | Heinrich VQ (Spectrograph) | ||
74 | w | Slit Spectrograph | ||
73 | wa | Cooke Lens #11366 (Western Association) | ||
78 | ww | Heinrich Camera Lens | ||
35 | x | 0.33 | 42.3 | 13-inch Boyden Refractor |
75 | y | 0.203 | 8-inch Clark Doublet | |
76 | z | 0.33 | 13-inch Boyden Refractor (spectrum plates) |