Henry Draper - Definition and Overview

Henry Draper (March 7, 1837 – November 20 1882) was an American doctor and astronomer.

He directed an expedition to photograph the 1874 transit of Venus.

Draper was one of the pioneers of the use of astrophotography. He was the first to photograph the Orion Nebula, in 1880.

After his untimely early death from double pleurisy, his widow funded the Henry Draper Medal for outstanding contributions to astrophysics and the Henry Draper Catalog of stellar spectra.

The small Draper crater on the Moon is named in his honor.