XV.—The Law of Blackening of the Photographic Plate at Low Densities

Abstract

The following paper is ancillary to certain investigations in stellar photometry which are in progress at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and require the establishment of data relating to the blackening of the plates employed. It describes the laboratory work carried out for this purpose, generally over the very restricted range of exposure times and densities used in the stellar work, but occasionally extended to cover a wider field. The conditions are chosen in order to give the maximum accuracy and range to the stellar work and not with a view to highly accurate laboratory work; on the other hand, the periodical change of emulsion which must occur in any lengthy investigation introduces an element which, though of considerable interest, is lacking in most of the published work on the subject.