The support structure for the telescope was assembled out of steel in 1936. Dropping down 22-feet into the ground, it is anchored to Palomar Mountain itself. Its parts were both welded and riveted together. The structure is isolated from the foundation of the building to ensure that no vibrations would carry to the telescope itself. It was built and later reinforced to withstand earthquakes, but it can still be moved to change its orientation on the Earth.Impressive, isn't it?
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3 comments:
That looks like an impressive amount of steel! It's a little hard to tell the scale though. What's a typical size?
Maybe this vintage photo helps put it into perspective. That's the telescope support structure on the left and a tractor on the right.
That makes it at least twice as large as I thought!
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