Aluminizing Update #2

The Cassegrain cage has been removed.

200" Aluminizing Update #1

I am unfortunately travelling today and will have to update the blog from afar. Work on removing the 200-inch mirror is underway. It is a very involved process. First the science instrument is removed from the Cassegrain cage. Then (seemingly) miles of wire and fiber optics must be carefully removed as well. The telescope is fitted with earthquake tie downs, computer racks are removed and then, eventually, the cage is lowered.

At last check of the webcam, the cage is still attached. There is still work to go before they are ready to lower it.
Here's an interesting shot from today's activities. I explained how such images are produced in an earlier post. Two short webcam movies, hosted at HPWREN, of some of this morning's activities are available here and here.

Update: They've opened the dome.

That's something you don't often see in the daytime, but it provides plenty of light & and some much needed warmth for the crew. Don't worry - I expect they will close the dome before the mirror comes out.

Hale Telescope Aluminizing Preview

Here's another YouTube preview of aluminizing the 200-inch mirror.



Remember the action begins on Wednesday which may be the best day to watch via the webcam.

This Week: Journey to Palomar Finally on TV & 200-inch Aluminizing

The Journey to Palomar will finally be showing on PBS stations starting tonight. Sorry, if I have been promoting it too much in the blog.

On Wednesday of this week we will begin re-aluminizing the Hale Telescope's 200-inch mirror. Here's a time-lapse video preview from June 2005.

The Great Galaxy in Andromeda

Here's another scan of a vintage PR shot from Palomar. This is of M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. The image was captured by the 48-inch Schmidt telescope at Palomar (now known as the Samuel Oschin Telescope) and was copyrighted by Caltech in 1959. Believe it or not, we still have a limited quantity of this poster for sale in the observatory's gift shop.

M31 has been an important galaxy in the history of astronomy. As the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way it has served as an important stepping stone out into the universe. In the 1920s Edwin Hubble used the 100-inch Hooker Telescope on Mt. Wilson to determine that the Andromeda Galaxy is a separate system from the Milky Way. His determination of its distance was off by a factor of two - a measurement that was later corrected by Walter Baade, using the 200-inch on Palomar. Modern estimates place the distance at 2.9 million light years.

M31 was photographed using the Samuel Oschin Telescope as a part of the Second Palomar Sky Survey. The photographic plates from that survey have been digitized and the images are available online. Davide De Martin of SkyFactory.org has used that data to produce a beautiful image of the galaxy.

Journey to Palomar getting some good press

The Journey to Palomar is getting some coverage in advance of its TV premiere next week. The website for Sky & Telescope magazine has an article on the show that includes an audio interview with the filmmakers and an extended preview of the film. Check it out.

There is also an article about the 200-inch mirror in the December issue of Sky & Telescope, but I haven't seen it yet.

Here's a story on the movie from the Chicago Sun-Times.

Check Your Local Listings

Every PBS affiliate gets to choose their broadcast date and time for The Journey to Palomar. Because of this, you'll want to check your local listings.

Here are a few broadcast dates & times

WSKG in Corning, NY - Monday, November 10 @ 10 p.m.
KPBS in San Diego, CA - Monday, November 10 @ 9 p.m.
KCET covering Pasadena, CA - Saturday, Novmber 15, @ 9 p.m.

If you happen to be in Ketchum, Idaho this Sunday you can see an advance screening at the Magic Lantern Cinema with George Ellery Hale's grandson. How cool is that?

Prime Focus Instrument Change

Here's a movie of a recent instrument change at Prime Focus. A high-resolution version (131 mb) is available here. That's the Hale Telescope's Large Format Camera heading down and the Wide-field Infrared Camera going up. Instrument changes such as this one are pretty common, happening several times each month. What is uncommon is re-aluminizing the 200-inch primary mirror. We only do that every 2 years or so.

On Wednesday, November 12 be sure to tune in to the Hale Telescope's web cam to catch all the action. The 14.5-ton mirror will be pulled from the telescope that day.

Celestron Supports Public Outreach at Palomar

I would like to offer a big "thank you" to Celestron for their recent donation to the public outreach programs at Palomar Observatory.

Last Sunday, Celestron's Kevin Kawai attended the Journey to Palomar screening at the observatory and before he and the rest of the Celestron group left the dome they presented this telescope to us.

No, not the 200-inch one in the background, but rather the NexStar 130 SLT that's in the box with Kevin (right) and myself.

Me, along with Celestron's Men in Black.

The NexStar will be one of the telescopes put into use for new public outreach programs that will soon be taking place at Palomar. More on the new programs will be posted here as they become ready.

Journey to Palomar on Planetary Radio

This week the Planetary Society's on-line show Planetary Radio profiles The Journey to Palomar and interviews filmmakers Robin and Todd Mason. Check it out here.


Sunday's screening of the new documentary inside the dome of the Hale Telescope was a big hit. Above is a webcam shot from during the screening. That's Ronald Florence, author of The Perfect Machine, on the big screen. After the show, we opened the dome for our guests.

More shots later in the week.

p.s. Don't forget to vote today!