It looks like this full-page ad ran various times in different publications from the late 1949 to mid 1950.
Showing posts with label Palomar in Ads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palomar in Ads. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Mighty Palomar
This is one of two ads that I know of from Dietzgen to feature Palomar's 200-inch Hale Telescope.
It looks like this full-page ad ran various times in different publications from the late 1949 to mid 1950.
It looks like this full-page ad ran various times in different publications from the late 1949 to mid 1950.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
I Can See for Miles and Miles . . . .
Here is another ad that features Palomar Observatory. This one, from Corning, was run in the 1948 Caltech yearbook, The Big T.
Click to embiggen and you'll be able to read the text of the ad. The photo shows the honeycombed back side of the 200-inch disc. Standing with it is Dr. George V. McCauley (left) and Dr. J. C. Hostetter. Dr. McCauley directed the project of the casting the huge Pyrex disc.
The ad includes some interesting copy with lines like "the giant telescope atop Mt. Palomar, so powerful that the canals of Mars, if there are any, will for the first time be photographed."
Of course in 1948 just about every astronomer was already convinced that the "canals of Mars" were nothing more than an optical illusion. Curiously enough the Chief of Aviation and Optical Division of the Corning Glass Works, Dr. O. A. Gage gave a radio address in April 1936 (about twelve years before this ad came out) on the 200-inch mirror. In the address he said that there will be "no inroads on the inhabitants of Mars" - meaning no one was going to see any canals. Too bad the person who wrote the ad didn't check with Dr. Gage. His speech was printed in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and contains some interesting stuff. You can see it here.
Oh, and 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles is a little over a billion light years. With modern digital detectors astronomers using the 200-inch telescope can see at least eleven times further than that.
Click to embiggen and you'll be able to read the text of the ad. The photo shows the honeycombed back side of the 200-inch disc. Standing with it is Dr. George V. McCauley (left) and Dr. J. C. Hostetter. Dr. McCauley directed the project of the casting the huge Pyrex disc.The ad includes some interesting copy with lines like "the giant telescope atop Mt. Palomar, so powerful that the canals of Mars, if there are any, will for the first time be photographed."
Of course in 1948 just about every astronomer was already convinced that the "canals of Mars" were nothing more than an optical illusion. Curiously enough the Chief of Aviation and Optical Division of the Corning Glass Works, Dr. O. A. Gage gave a radio address in April 1936 (about twelve years before this ad came out) on the 200-inch mirror. In the address he said that there will be "no inroads on the inhabitants of Mars" - meaning no one was going to see any canals. Too bad the person who wrote the ad didn't check with Dr. Gage. His speech was printed in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and contains some interesting stuff. You can see it here.
Oh, and 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles is a little over a billion light years. With modern digital detectors astronomers using the 200-inch telescope can see at least eleven times further than that.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Palomar History Photo of the Week: February 8, 2010
I recently scanned this photo from an old lantern slide:
It shows a man standing with the mirror cell for the 200-inch telescope at Palomar. Unfortunately I do not know who is in the photo. Fortunately there is a date given on the photo: 10-25-35. October 25, 1935.
The photo was later featured in an ad for Babcock & Wilcox, the company that built the mirror cell.
As always, you can click on it to see a bigger version.
The ad ran in the 1948 Caltech yearbook, The Big T.
It seemed like a good time to run this as all the openings in the mirror cell contain the mirror supports which are currently being serviced. In the ad the photo on the right shows optician Marcus Brown climbing the backside of the mirror. A portion of the mirror supports can be seen sticking out of that side of the mirror.
It shows a man standing with the mirror cell for the 200-inch telescope at Palomar. Unfortunately I do not know who is in the photo. Fortunately there is a date given on the photo: 10-25-35. October 25, 1935.
The photo was later featured in an ad for Babcock & Wilcox, the company that built the mirror cell.
As always, you can click on it to see a bigger version.The ad ran in the 1948 Caltech yearbook, The Big T.
It seemed like a good time to run this as all the openings in the mirror cell contain the mirror supports which are currently being serviced. In the ad the photo on the right shows optician Marcus Brown climbing the backside of the mirror. A portion of the mirror supports can be seen sticking out of that side of the mirror.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Palomar in Ads - III
I have posted a few print ads here, now it is time for some video.
It is a wonderful new world of Fords! From 1960 I give you the Falcon, the Thunderbird and the Galaxy. All sold to you using a model of the Hale Telescope and Dome.
It is a wonderful new world of Fords! From 1960 I give you the Falcon, the Thunderbird and the Galaxy. All sold to you using a model of the Hale Telescope and Dome.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Palomar in Ads - II
It has been a while since I posted an advertisement featuring Palomar Observatory.
This full-page magazine ad for Kodak film ran in back in 1948 or 1949 sometime after the dedication of the 200-inch telescope.
Kodak produced the photographic plates that were used at Palomar for years. The last photographic plate shot with the Hale Telescope was taken in 1989. We continued to use Kodak plates for the Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, performed with the 48-inch Schmidt (aka the Samuel Oschin Telescope) all the way up to the year 2000.
The first CCD photography at Palomar began in the 1970s and everything is 100% digital now. Of course our reach into space is a lot farther now than the "billion light years" quoted in the ad.
This full-page magazine ad for Kodak film ran in back in 1948 or 1949 sometime after the dedication of the 200-inch telescope.
Kodak produced the photographic plates that were used at Palomar for years. The last photographic plate shot with the Hale Telescope was taken in 1989. We continued to use Kodak plates for the Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, performed with the 48-inch Schmidt (aka the Samuel Oschin Telescope) all the way up to the year 2000.The first CCD photography at Palomar began in the 1970s and everything is 100% digital now. Of course our reach into space is a lot farther now than the "billion light years" quoted in the ad.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Palomar in Ads - I
Speaking of cancer, I only just now stumbled upon this old post from Discover's Cosmic Variance blog that ties in a famous Palomar astronomer with an ad for tobacco. Check it out and you'll see a what looks exactly like a famous Palomar telescope selling death sticks. Yikes!
This was not an "official" ad in that it (thankfully) did not mention Palomar Observatory by name. There have been many ads that have done so. From time to time I'll be posting a few of them here.
This was not an "official" ad in that it (thankfully) did not mention Palomar Observatory by name. There have been many ads that have done so. From time to time I'll be posting a few of them here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
