The Lagoon Nebula

I just found a vintage photo of one of my favorite astronomical objects, M8--the Lagoon Nebula.

The photo was one of the old Palomar PR shots, but my copy has been laying in a file drawer for quite sometime. Here it is, fresh from my scanner:

The image was taken using the 200-inch Hale Telescope at prime focus and it is remarkable that this was the world's best in 1961 (when it was copyrighted by Caltech). Of course pictures like this one were shot on glass photographic plates or, eventually, color film.

Flash forward to today where amateur astronomers now have equipment that rivals or exceeds what the professional astronomers were using 45+ years ago. The good thing is that the professionals also have much better equipment and still have the big telescopes. So they continue to put out some amazing stuff.

Seventy Years Ago Today

Seventy years ago this month the first parts of the 200-inch telescope began arriving on Palomar Mountain. Here are shots from October 28, 1938 as the horseshoe and other parts made their way up that mountain and were lifted onto the observing floor.





You can see more of this in The Journey to Palomar. We still have some seats left for our screening in the dome on Sunday, November 2nd.

Talks & News

I'll be speaking about Palomar Observatory this weekend at Nightfall in Borrego Springs, CA. Borrego Springs is a wonderful dark-sky site. This weekend should be perfect for observing with little interference from moonlight.

Later in November, I'll be speaking at the fall meeting of the American Physical Society's New York State Section. The theme of the meeting is "A Century of Optics and Materials." I'll be presenting a look back at the telescope and the role that Corning Glass Works played in producing the mirrors for Palomar. Included will be some of the discoveries made at Palomar, what is going on now and a look at future large telescopes like the Thirty Meter Telescope. Its sort of an early kick off for the International Year of Astronomy. I am really looking forward to the trip and my first chance to see the first, failed, 200-inch Pyrex disc that was cast by Corning.

In other news, the new Palomar Transient Factory observing program, scheduled to begin later this year, is an international collaboration. It got a mention today in the Hindu News.

Re-aluminizing Again

If you've been following the blog, you've seen the results of re-aluminizing before when the Palomar crew re-coated the 60-inch mirror back in August. They just completed re-coating the 72-inch mirror for the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope.

Because of the design of a Schmidt Telescope (also called a Schmidt Camera) it has a mirror that is larger than the glass corrector plate at the front. And because the size of a telescope is determined by the opening that lets in the light, this telescope is called a 48-inch telescope even though it has a larger mirror.

All that aside, I give you another beautiful example of before and after photos of a telescope mirror. The crew does good work, don't they?

Poomacha Fire Anniversary

One year ago today the Poomacha Fire broke out at the base of Palomar Mountain. The fire consumed over 49,000 acres and many homes in the area. While one of the observatory's employees did lose his home in the fire, the observatory and all of the homes on the top of Palomar Mountain were saved due to the tremendous efforts of the many firefighting crews that worked on the blaze.


Thank you firefighters.

See The Journey to Palomar at Palomar

You may already know that The Journey to Palomar will be broadcast on PBS on November 10 (check your local listings as stations will vary when they show it).

Before it is shown on TV, there will be an opportunity to see the film here at Palomar. The film will be shown on the observing floor under the Hale Telescope itself. The screening will be held on Sunday, November 2nd @ 1 p.m. Follow the link for the details.

All of the proceeds for the event will go toward a new wave of public outreach to take place here at Palomar. We have a new Outreach Center and the opportunity to install a historic telescope for the general public to view through.

Yes, you'll eventually get the chance to look through the same telescope, a 10-inch refractor, that Edwin Hubble is looking though in this photo (pipe optional). The big scope in the photo, the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope, will continue to be used for astronomical research, but the 10-inch refractor is no longer needed to guide the bigger one. The plan is to use the Outreach Center for all kinds of cool stuff including looking through this and other small telescopes.

Check out the trailer for The Journey to Palomar below and be sure to attend the screening if you can or at least watch the show on TV.

Sci Fi Science on TV

Look for Palomar Observatory on Sci Fi Science on Science Channel. If I recall correctly the topic of exoplanets will be discussed and you may be seeing the Palomar Testbed Interferometer, the Sleuth telescope and myself.

The show will air Sunday October 26 at 9:00PM Eastern and Pacific/ 8:00pm Central. As always it is a good idea to check your local listings.

Count the Stars!

From October 20 - November 3 you can take place in the Great World-Wide Star Count an activity that let's just about anyone contribute to science and help understand the impacts of light pollution. From the GWWSC press release:

Bright outdoor lighting at night is a growing problem for astronomical observing programs around the world. By searching for the same constellations in their respective hemispheres, participants in the Great World Wide Star Count will be able to compare their observations with what others see, giving them a sense of how star visibility varies from place to place. The observers will also learn more about the economic and geographic factors that control light pollution in their communities and around the world.

Join in the count for fun and science.

If you want to know more about light pollution be sure to pick up a copy of the November issue of National Geographic. Their cover story, The End of Night - Why We Need Darkness will certainly open your eyes.

Pictures

We've got photographers from an Italian magazine and a major U.S. publication here this week. I think that they are capturing some interesting stuff that will nicely show off the observatory and some of what we do here.

We'll see the results of their efforts a few months from now. In the meantime one of my humble shots was chosen as HPWREN Image of the Week. It shows our 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope and its primary mirror which has just been pulled to be re-aluminized.

On the Road Again . . .

I'll be on the road giving a talk on the history of building the Hale Telescope this Friday night at 8:30 p.m. at the Bianchi Planetarium at Cal State Northridge.

Here's a photo that will be in the show. It was taken back in 1936 by Earnest A. Whichelo, the manager of Consolidated Western Steel, as one of the welders paused to have his photo taken. CWS was the main contractor who built the dome for the 200-inch telescope.

The photo comes from a collection of photos donated to the observatory by Cindy Johnson, daughter of Earnest Whichelo. We thank Ms. Johnson and the others over the years that have returned parts of Palomar Observatory's history back to us. Each photo is a treasure and reminds us of the tremendous work done by the people who made the Hale Telescope what it is.