Here is the only Palomar-related comic book in my collection. I don't actually know if there are any others. If anyone knows of something else, drop me an email or leave a comment.
According to Wikipedia the Treasure Chest of Fun & Facts was a Catholic-oriented comic book series that was published from 1946 - 1972. As you can see above the March 3, 1948 issue featured the 200-inch telescope on its cover. My copy is torn you can see a cleaner copy here.
Here is the 2 page pin up from the center of the comic:
Click the image to see it much larger.The "facts" are mostly not too bad. Although the 200-inch mirror was not cast three times.
The model shown in the illustration was real. It is now on display at Griffith Observatory. That same model was in the December, 1938 issue of Popular Science Magazine. You can see it here from the wonderful Modern Mechanix blog.
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I was traveling and just couldn't fit it in. On my flight back home I had this wonderful view of Mt. Rainier.
I did not know Galileo discovered three rings of Saturn. I thought he saw them but didn't know what to make of them.
ReplyDeleteBeing a Catholic comic, I am surprised they mentioned Galileo at all. :^)
Thanks so much for sharing these treasures with us.
Yeah, Galileo certainly did not discover 3 rings around Saturn, he didn't know at all what he had seen. Christiaan Huygens gets the credit for properly determining that Saturn has rings.
ReplyDeleteAs for Galileo and the Catholic Church, I suppose it is never too late to say "I'm sorry".