Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 Public Domain. Release under the CC BY Attribution license--http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/--Credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California Send requests to address or e-mail given USC Libraries Special Collections specol@usc.edu
Description
Photograph of the sixty-foot tower telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory, ca.1930. The 60-foot metal framework surrounds a small house, which was probably used as a research facility. An elevator (or parts of the telescope?) protrudes from the center of the house and extends to the top of the tower where a dome structure is perched. A man(?) stands inside the dome structure. A smaller tower structure is visible beyond the trees at left. The area is surrounded by trees. Picture file card reads: "the spectroscope used with this new form of telescope is mounted in a wall 80 feet deep in the earth beneath the town". "Solar astronomy at Mt. Wilson Observatory has a rich history. There is probably no historical event that can be singled out as the most important solar discovery of the 20th Century, but Mt. Wilson has been home to some of the greatest scientific achievements. In addition to having the largest photographic archive of white-light images of the sun, and having the distinction of being the first solar telescope to be built on a tower, the 60- Foot Solar Tower is home to two of the most important discoveries in the field of solar research: George Ellery Hale's discovery of magnetic fields and Robert Leighton's pioneering work in helioseismology. The mountain is host to several ongoing observing projects using the onsite facilities. The observatory has two primary nighttime telescopes: the 60-inch telescope, built in 1908, is home to the HK Project the 100-inch (Hooker) telescope, built in 1917, has a new instrument for Adaptive Optics. Two solar observatories have been in operation since the early days of the Observatory. The 60-foot tower telescope, operated by USC, is part of a worldwide network monitoring helioseismology. The 150-foot tower telescope, operated by UCLA, investigates long-term changes of solar magnetic activity." -- unknown author.
Type
image
Format
2 photographs : glass photonegative, photoprint, b&w 26 x 21 cm. glass plate negatives photographic prints photographs
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