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[Lunar halo and luminescent cross observed during the balloon Zénith's long distance flight from Paris to Arcachon in March, 1875] – Antique Print

[Lunar halo and luminescent cross observed during the balloon Zénith's long distance flight from Paris to Arcachon in March, 1875], [between 1875 and 1880] — historic drawing
[Lunar halo and luminescent cross observed during the balloon Zénith's long distance flight from Paris to Arcachon in March, 1875], [between 1875 and 1880]. Historic drawing from the Ballooning collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

[Lunar halo and luminescent cross observed during the balloon Zénith's long distance flight from Paris to Arcachon in March, 1875] comes to life in this historic drawing, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

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[Lunar halo and luminescent cross observed during the balloon Zénith's long distance flight from Paris to Arcachon in March, 1875]

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Few pictures in this set show the sky itself as the subject. Here the Zénith's night voyage from Paris toward Arcachon in March 1875 is recorded through a lunar halo and a luminescent cross, rare optical effects that appear when moonlight passes through high ice crystals. Gaston Tissandier, a balloonist and writer, described the flight in *Histoire de mes ascensions* (1878), and this drawing is possibly by his brother Albert Tissandier, an illustrator. Drawn in ink wash and white highlights on blue paper, it shows how balloonists of the period tried to record what they saw from the basket, where the sky was often the most striking thing in view.

Created / published[between 1875 and 1880]
Medium1 drawing on blue paper : ink wash, lead white, and graphite.
NotesPossibly drawn by Albert Tissandier. Title and date devised by Library staff, based on illustrations in Histoire de mes ascensions ... / par Gaston Tissandier. Paris : M. Dreyfous, 1878. Tissandier collection. Exhibited: The Dream of Flight" : American Treasures of the Library of Congress
SubjectsBalloons (Aircraft)--French--1870-1880. Moonlight--1870-1880.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan3,564 × 3,006 px · prints to 12 × 10 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-223715

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