In 1891, Maurice Loewy (1833-1907), director of the Observatory, inaugurated a new instrument: the large coudé equatorial. Together with his colleague Pierre Puiseux (1855-1928), he used it to create splendid photographs of the Moon, published in sections from 1896 to 1910 (the last one after Loewy’s death). They are so good that NASA used them when preparing the Apollo program.

caption : Grand coudé - credits : Observatoire de Paris