As I work with the historical glass plate images at the Carnegie Observatories, I frequently experience a sense of wonder at the order of the universe.
I dream of being the Indiana Jones of libraries—discovering lost treasures hiding in back rooms, attics, and even basements. This is the story of my work with Allan Sandage’s personal collection of astronomical glass plates and my efforts to make them more widely discoverable.
Kit Whitten holding a plate from the Sandage colelction
Kit Whitten in the Hale Library
Spectra plates at OBS
Tour at OBS
Moon Globe in Hale Library
Kit Whitten with solar plates
Plates in the Sandage collection
Light Boxes with Moon Plates
Tour at OBS
Kit Whitten with Direct Images Plates