| RefNo | EC/1885/06 |
| Previous numbers | Cert XI, 84 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Common, Andrew Ainslie: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Citation | A Ainslie Common FRAS
Mr Common is an original inventor of the system of relieving the moving weights of Astronomical Instruments by Hydraulic Pressure, which he has worked out for several Classes of Instruments, and actually carried into Execution in a 3 foot Reflector (described in RAS Memoirs Vol xlvi) for Astronomical purposes, especially for Photography. He has devoted himself particularly to the practice of Celestial Photography and has produced some of the most beautiful records of Nebulae and Planetary appearances in existence. The long exposures necessary to produce this result are obtained by contrivances devised by himself, which have allowed him also to produce Photographs of parts of the heavens showing stars down to a magnitude which must render the old mode of observing stars singly, except for reference points, a thing of the past. He received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for his Celestial Photographs in 1884. Mr Common has proved by published observations of the Satellites of Saturn & Mars that the Reflector he made is fully equal to the largest available refractors in definition and has thus greatly increased the possibilities of Celestial Observation. |
| Proposers | From Personal Knowledge: E J Stone; J F Tennant Lt Genl; E Dunkin; J Norman Lockyer; J C Adams; E J Routh; J W L Glaisher; A Cayley; W H Besant; J T Walker |
| Extent | 1 sheet |
| AccessStatus | Open |
| Image | 
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Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA6681 | Common; Andrew Ainslie (1841 - 1903) | 1841 - 1903 |