For what reason was the Schmidt telescope specially built?
This instrument was specifically designed for photographing the Sun’s corona (the outer layer), which up to that time had been successfully photographed only during solar eclipses. The coronagraph, as this special telescope is called, must be located at a high altitude to be effective.
What did the Hale Telescope discover?
Big vision, big telescopes The vision for the Palomar Observatory is credited to George Ellery Hale, a 19th- and 20th-century astronomer who is known not only for his scientific discoveries — he found out that magnetic fields and sunspots are linked, for example — but also for his business sense.
Why was the Hale Telescope built?
The first telescope parts arrived at Palomar in 1938 and construction was finished in 1939. The basic structure of the telescope was completed long before its 200-inch mirror was ready. Astronomers wanted to make the mirror out of a material that would have minimal expansion or contraction with changes in temperature.
How long did it take to build the Hale Telescope?
With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1928, he orchestrated the planning, design, and construction of the observatory, but with the project ending up taking 20 years he did not live to see its commissioning.
How does a Schmidt telescope work?
Schmidt telescope, also called Schmidt camera, telescope in which a spherical primary mirror receives light that has passed through a thin aspherical lens, called a correcting plate, that compensates for the image distortions—namely, spherical aberrations—produced by the mirror.
What type of telescope is the Schmidt telescope?
catadioptric telescope
The Schmidt–Cassegrain is a catadioptric telescope that combines a Cassegrain reflector’s optical path with a Schmidt corrector plate to make a compact astronomical instrument that uses simple spherical surfaces.
Who built the Hale Telescope?
George Ellery Hale was the person most responsible for the building of Palomar Observatory. A graduate of MIT and a founder of Caltech, in 1928 he secured a grant of $6 million from the Rockefeller Foundation for the fabrication of a 200-inch reflecting telescope.
Who designed the Hale Telescope?
George Ellery Hale, (born June 29, 1868, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—died Feb. 21, 1938, Pasadena, Calif.), American astronomer known for his development of important astronomical instruments, including the Hale Telescope, a 200-inch (508-cm) reflector at the Palomar Observatory, near San Diego.
How was the glass for the 200-inch telescope transported?
“Palomar’s famous mirror is hauled on a Fruehauf.” A Fruehauf trailer had safely transported the 200-inch disk from Pasadena, California to its final home at Mount Palomar Observatory. “Truck-trailer transport has hauled successfully the biggest reflecting mirror ever formed.