2 Short Mirror Wash Videos

Here is a short video showing the 200-inch mirror as it looked just before it was washed nearly two weeks ago:

And another short clip showing the wash in progress:

I recorded a *much* longer video showing the entire wash. Hopefully, I'll get a time-compressed version of that posted soon.

Under the Big Eye

Here's a rare view of the Hale Telescope that was taken during last week's mirror wash:


The photo was taken from under the telescope (with the camera on the observing floor) when the mirror was pulled out and the mirror cover partially open. On the left (south) is the coudé arch and on the right (north) is the horseshoe.

More photos from the mirror wash engineering run will be posted later in the week.

200" Mirror Wash - Update

The washing of the 200-inch mirror was completed on Thursday and the Big Eye is now back in the telescope.

I took several hundred photos of the event and it will likely be sometime next week before the best of them are posted here. In the meantime, let me show you what it was all about with a before and after photo of our 14.5 ton glass mirror.

That is a dramatic difference and a job well done by the Palomar crew.

Mirror Wash 2010 - Day 1

The engineering run to wash the 200-inch mirror is going well. Yesterday the mirror was successfully pulled from the telescope. Here are some photos from the first day of engineering.

The Hale Telescope with the Cassegrain instrument and Cassegrain cage removed.

A view of the mirror cell. The 36 mirror supports, serviced earlier this year, are visible.


The mirror cart under the Hale Telescope, ready to receive the 200-inch mirror.

The Palomar crew pushing the mirror cart, loaded with the 200-inch mirror, over to the washing area in the dome northwest of the telescope.

For more immediate updates & photos be sure to follow palomarskies on twitter and/or "like" Palomar Observatory on Facebook.