On the night of July 27, 1913, astronomer E. E. Barnard noticed that the skies above Yerkes Observatory in southern Wisconsin were nearly perfect. The heavens were crystal clear and the Midwest air was surprisingly steady.
He guided the gaze of the world’s largest refracting telescope in the direction of Orion, targeting a mysterious object he’d tried to glimpse many times since his comet-hunting days decades earlier. Other astronomers had previously photographed the area, but the nature — and very existence — of one fuzzy spot remained controversial.
On this picturesque Wisconsin night, however, there was no mistaking it: A crisp, black silhouette stood out against a bright background sky.
"From the view, one would not question for a moment that a real object — dusty looking, but very feebly brighter than the night sky — occupies the place,” Barnard wrote. “This object has not received the attention it deserves,” he added.
Barnard also managed to capture a picture of the celestial object, which is still recognizable to space fans today. He had finally tamed the Horsehead Nebula, an object whose fame has since grown, spurred by an era of multi-billion-dollar space telescopes and advanced instruments for amateur astronomers.
