Who knew science could be so juicy?

I hadn't intended on posting more about Palomar Observatory. Really.  But it deserves one more shout out.  Today marks the anniversary of the day the 200" Hale telescope saw its first light.  I sort of mentioned it in my last post, but Palomar Observatory is historically significant because it is the thing that allowed astronomy to flourish in Southern California.

Thanks to the fantastic fundraising abilities of George Ellery Hale (a solar astronomer), the Mount Wilson Observatory was founded in 1904 with a grant from the Carnegie Institution of Washington.  There is a lot of information about Mt. Wilson and its 100" Hooker telescope.  I suggest you read about it.  Here's a link.  Unlike today's observatories, Mt. Wilson employed a whole host of its own astronomers, like Edwin Hubble, who made incredible contributions to astronomy.  This place was important, even Albert Einstein took a trek up that mountain to get a look at the serious science.  But here's why Palomar is so much cooler.

You may be aware of a longstanding rivalry between the Rockefellers and the Carnegies?  Well, if you were unaware, it's a real thing.  When Hale began to raise money for his pet project, the 200" telescope, he found the only group willing to fund his telescope was the International Education Board, who, oddly enough, was an organization of the Rockefeller foundation.  Not surprisingly, the International Board of Education was unwilling to award this new observatory to a Carnegie facility.  So Hale was promised $6 million to build the observatory and the telescope with one stipulation: the recipient would be the newly established California Institute of Technology and before they could have the money, they would need to secure an endowment to finance the observatory's operation costs.  Luckily, a wealthy banker agreed to do just that.

Without even trying, Caltech had accumulated its own observatory.  They didn't have astronomers, nor did they have a department or an optics lab.  But hey, at least they would have the world's largest telescope, right?  So began the tumultuous (and weird) marriage of Caltech and Mt. Wilson.  Mt. Wilson gave Caltech astronomers, Caltech shared its telescope and used that lovely endowment money to build a department and the optics lab that would be used to finish Palomar's 5.2 meter Pyrex mirror.

The end.

Okay, it's not the end.  But it's a whole lot of personalities and this blog is supposed to be about science.  Suffice it to say that that marriage has since dissolved, Caltech runs its own astronomy department and several telescopes, Mt. Wilson is still a cool place to visit, and the Carnegie Institution of Science is still around and thriving.

So back to it.
First light at Palomar occurred 63 years ago on January 26, 1949 when Edwin Powell Hubble pointed the 200" Hale telescope at NGC 2261.  Sadly, Hale did not live to see his dream realized.  His memory, though, lives through this telescope.  Like Hale always said, "make no small plans, dream no small dreams."

Technology continues to improve, but the infrastructure surrounding this mirror (and the mirror itself) is all original.  The spare gears built sixty some years ago are still hanging on the wall having never been used.  In fact, the observatory is so confident these spare gears won't be required that they built a brand new adaptive optics lab right in front of them.  That lab is now home to the world's premier adaptive optics system, the Palm 3000.
This truly is the perfect machine.

To 63 years, Palomar, and many more to come.


Not many institutions can claim sole ownership of such a spectacular facility. It is worth noting, however, that the Carnegie Institution is a partner on the Giant Magellan, a 24.5 meter telescope planned to be functional in 2018.  They've completed one of seven 8.4 m segments and finished casting the second.  Caltech and the University of California (hey, that's us!) have plans for a 30 meter telescope (along with partners Canada and Japan).  But alas, the Europeans are in the lead with their planned Extremely Large Telescope that would be 39.3 meters.  Wow.

My next post will be about science.
I promise.