First Light Follow Up

Long before the 200-inch telescope was completed, Collier's magazine paid Caltech for the exclusive rights to be the first to publish the pictures.

Edwin Hubble's first images (described in Monday's post) were published in the May 7, 1949 issue of Collier's and thankfully someone has scanned the article and placed it on the Web.


In addition to the astrophotos, there is an article written by David O. Woodbury, author of The Glass Giant of Palomar. The cover of the magazine was done by none other than the legendary space artist Chesley Bonestell. The original painting is now in the collection of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. I hope to see the orginal painting in person one day.

Almost like being there . . .

If you can't visit Palomar's big dome to see the 200-inch Hale Telescope in person you might be interested in seeing these amazing 360-degree photos created by jrbfoto.com. Be sure to give them time to load. Once they do then you can pan around, look up, look down, zoom in & out and have a grand ol' time.

The view from the observing floor.

The view from the inside catwalk.

Update: Hey, this was my 200th blog post!

60 Years Ago Today - First Light for the Hale

60 years ago today Edwin Hubble took the first astrophotos from Palomar's 200-inch Hale Telescope. You can hear me talking about this anniversary in a podcast as a part the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts.

Here are a couple of photos to go with the occasion.


The photo above comes from the LIFE photo archive hosted by Google. In the picture you can see Edwin Hubble inside the prime focus cage high above the 200-inch primary mirror. In those nights the astronomer had to ride inside the telescope to take images and spectra of the objects they wanted to study. Long nights and winter temperatures were known to take their their toll on astronomers who eventually took to wearing World War II surplus electrically-heated flight suits.

Technology eventually came to the rescue. Palomar's astronomers no longer use glass photographic plates, favoring CCD cameras which are more sensitive to light and can be controlled from a warm room.

Edwin Hubble first target on January 26, 1949 was none other than NGC 2261, also known as Hubble's Variable Nebula. Here it is:


On a side note, yesterday's Pasadena Star News had an article on Hale. Pasadena History: Bigger, the better for Hale.

The Mysteries of the Cosmos

You can explore the Mysteries of the Cosmos by attending the event of the same name on the Caltech campus Friday, January 30 @ 7 pm. Details are at the link, but it looks like they have a great evening planned. Bad Astronomy blogger Phil Plait will moderate a star-studded panel that includes Caltech's Mike Brown, Debra Fischer of San Francisco State University, and Andrea Ghez of UCLA. They'll be discussing the outer solar system, life in the universe, black holes - basically all the cool stuff.

There will be a Q & A session and the whole thing will later be viewable on the web too. Sounds like a fun evening and a great way to continue the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy.

Palomar News Reels

Here's a vintage (possibly 1937) news reel about construction of the 200-inch telescope from HowStuffWorks. Sorry, but you'll have to endure a short ad first.

I know that there are more of these out there, so if anybody knows of any other such films feel free to drop me an email or leave a reply in the comments.

New Winter Visiting Hours

Starting today the Palomar Observatory will be closing an hour earlier for the rest of winter. Our new visiting hours:

From November through March: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

From April through October: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Palomar Goes Green

Palomar has gone green. Ok, the dome is still white (really, this is just a visual metaphor), but the observatory is working to cut its use of electricity. One of the ways that this is happening is through changes in the lighting behind the back-lit displays for visitors.

Here's one of the many displays in the observatory's visitor center:

It shows a supernova remnant known as Simeis 147. The image comes from the second Palomar Sky Survey and was nicely processed by Davide De Martin over at Sky Factory.org. (Visit his site there's lots of cool stuff there!)

The fixtures for the displays are more than 50 years old. Until recently each of the 30 displays had six 15-watt bulbs on the inside. On average they are turned on 8.5 hours a day. With the observatory being open to the public 363 days a year, the displays consume over 8.3 megawatt hours a year!

We’ve just made the switch to 15-watt compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. They are so much brighter than the old incandescent bulbs that we are able to drop each display down from six bulbs to two – cutting our energy use by 33.3%. That's a savings in money and a reduction in the amount of greenhouse gases that would otherwise be produced. So we get to show off cool photos of supernovae and telescopes but in a greener way.

Here's the display from above opened up. Inside is six 15-watt incandescent bulbs:

Now replaced with just two 15-watt CFLs:

As you can see the CFLs are brighter. It may look like all six bulbs are on in this shot, but it is just 2 of the CFL's and 4 dead incandescents (to fill the otherwise empty sockets).

If you are making the switch at home remember that a 15-watt CFL is as bright as a 60-watt incandescent bulb. Be sure to use a lower wattage on those CFLs to prevent overlighting and any extra contributions to light pollution.

To reap even greater savings and cut on light pollution, remember to use the off switch.

January Laser

Last night: Clear skies. January stars. Hale Telescope. Adaptive optics. Laser guide-star.

Friends in High Places

I have always heard that it is good to have friends in high places. I don't suppose this is what is meant by that though.

Here's two members of the Palomar Observatory Mountain Operations day crew (Bruce and Drew) working on the dome shutters for the 60-inch telescope. As you look at the photo above you may have a hard time seeing them. Take a look at the cropped version below. Can you see both of them?

It was time to once again inspect, scrape and grease the rails that the dome shutters ride on. Its a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it.

5 Minute Travels Visits Palomar Observatory

Anything Goes Productions has a series of cool 5-minute travel features. They recently visited Palomar Observatory. Have a look: