Complex sentence: He directed an expedition to photograph the 1874 transit of Venus, and was the first to photograph the Orion Nebula, on September 30,1880 using his 11 inch Clark Brothers photographic refractor he took a 50 minute exposure.
Split into simpler sentences: He directed an expedition to photograph the 1874 transit of Venus, and was the first to photograph the Orion Nebula, on September 30,1880. Using his 11 inch Clark Brothers photographic refractor he took a 50 minute exposure.