Discovery image
Encyclopedia
In astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

, a discovery image is typically a drawing, film base photograph, photographic plate
Photographic plate
Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a means of photography. A light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was applied to a glass plate. This form of photographic material largely faded from the consumer market in the early years of the 20th century, as more convenient and less fragile...

, or digital image in which a celestial object or phenomenon was first found. This can include planets, dwarf planets, small solar system bodies (asteroids, comets, etc.) or features found on or near those objects such as ring systems or large craters
Impact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...

.

For example, the moon of Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...

, Phoebe
Phoebe (moon)
Phoebe is an irregular satellite of Saturn. It was discovered by William Henry Pickering on 17 March 1899 from photographic plates that had been taken starting on 16 August 1898 at the Boyden Observatory near Arequipa, Peru, by DeLisle Stewart...

, was the first satellite to be discovered photographically by William Henry Pickering
William Henry Pickering
William Henry Pickering was an American astronomer, brother of Edward Charles Pickering. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1883.-Work:...

 on March 17, 1899 from photographic plates that had been taken starting on August 16, 1898 at Arequipa
Arequipa
Arequipa is the capital city of the Arequipa Region in southern Peru. With a population of 836,859 it is the second most populous city of the country...

, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

 by DeLisle Stewart
DeLisle Stewart
DeLisle Stewart was an American astronomer.In 1896 he became a staff member of Harvard College Observatory, and from 1898 to 1901 he worked at that observatory's station at Arequipa, Peru, where he took the photographic plates that William Henry Pickering used to discover Saturn's moon Phoebe...

.

Further reading

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