Western Observatories

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Western Observatories

• This powerpoint will present trips to some
• Western observatories
• Lowell Observatory Flagstaff, AZ
• Mount Palomar Observatory CA
• Kitt Peak Observatory Tucson, AZ

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Lowell Observatory Arizona
Lowell Observatory - Arizona
Percival Lowell established this observatory at
an altitude 7250 feet above the town Flagstaff,
Arizona. It was founded in 1894.
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Lowell Observatory Dome
Lowell Observatory Dome
Some famous first discoveries at this
observatory The canals of Mars, and the
discovery of Pluto in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh
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Lowell Observatory Refractor
Lowell Observatory Refractor
This image depicts the 24-inch (0.61-meter)
Clark Refracting Telescope, built in 1896. This
is one of the worlds largest refracting telescope
s, (Yerkes in Wisconsin is larger at 40 inches).
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Mt. Palomar Observatory - CA
With the increasing light pollution from Los
Angeles, Mount Wilson was no longer an ideal
site for an observatory. The astronomer
George Hale found this site in San Diego county
in 1934. Unfortunately, light pollution is
infringing on this site today.
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Road up to Mount Palomar
This highway allows the public access to the
Mount Palomar Observatory. It is located up a
windy road about 50 miles Northeast of San
Diego, California
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Mt. Palomar Observatory - CA
Mt. Palomar Observatory is the most famous
observatory in the USA and is the site of 4 large
telescopes at an altitude 5,550 feet.
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Mt. Palomar Dome (1)
This dome houses the famous 200 inch Hale
reflecting telescope. It weighs 1000 tons! The
public is welcome to enter the viewing
gallery for this telescope and are greeted by a
sculpture bust of Mr. Hale.
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Mt. Palomar Dome (2)
This slit in the dome is opened at night to let
starlight fall onto the primary mirror of
the 200 inch Hale telescope. As a result o f
Mr. Hales vision and hard work, the
Rockefeller Foundation awarded a grant in 1928
to CalTech (a small university in Pasadena, CA)
for construction of this telescope.
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200 inch Hale Telescope
The 200 inch diameter Hale Telescope was from the
1940s through the 1980s the biggest telescope in
the world. It is 530 tons. In 2003, Mike Brown,
an astronomer at CalTech, used a smaller scope
on Mt. Palomar to discover the minor planet
Eris. See his website http//www.gps.caltech.edu
/mbrown/
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Hale Telescope Mirror
This mirror weighs 15 tons and was cast , as
shown above, in 1934 by Corning Glass in New
York. It was shipped by rail to CalTech and
then grinded and polished. It was then pulled up
the long road to the top of Mount Palomar by
tractors.
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Kitt Peak Observatory
Kitt Peak Observatory , near Tucson , Arizona,
was opened in 1958 for the purpose of giving the
nations astronomers top notch observing
facilities.
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Road up to Kitt Peak Observatory
This is a view from atop Kitt Peak Mountain
looking down toward the desert floor about 2 km
below the summit.
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Panorama 1
CURRENT WEBCAM IMAGE
The next 3 slides show panoramas of the 24
optical telescopes on the mountain . Many of
these are operated by the Natl. Optical Astronomy
Obs.
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Pano
Panorama 2
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Panorama 3
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Mayall 4 meter Telescope
This is the largest telescope on the mountain
having a diameter of 4 meters. It saw first
light in 1973.
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Details on Mayall Scope
The primary mirror weighs 15 tons and is made of
fused quartz. It operates with a Richey-Chretien
focus (a type of Cassegrainian) and hyperbolic
mirrors. It uses a Mosaic CCD imaging system.
Photo courtesy NOAO/AURA/NSF
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McMath-Pierce Solar Observatory
This observatory is dedicated to studies of the
sun and is operated by the National Solar
Observatory (NSO). NSO operates this and a
sister facility at Cerro Tellolo Interamerican
Observatory in Chile. It was opened in 1962.
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WIYN Telescope
This is the most advanced telescope on
the Mountain. It saw first light in 1994 and is
run by a consortium consisting of
Wisconsin- Indiana-Yale-NOAO universities. It
has a 3.5 meter aperture, but weighs only 2 tons.
since the mirror is too thin to support its
own weight, it needs an adaptive optics feature
which uses push-pull actuators under
computer control to constantly maintain the
correct shape. It also has altitude-azimuth
mounting which requires less space. It also has
an active optics system to correct for
atmospheric blurring.
Photo courtesy WIYN Consortium, Inc.
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Photo courtesy
NOAO/AURA/NSF
Keck twin Telescopes
These twin 10 meter telescopes are operated at
the top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. They are currently
the worlds largest optical telescopes.