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58-591: The observatory operates several telescopes, including the 200-inch (5.1 m) Hale Telescope , the 48-inch (1.2 m) Samuel Oschin telescope (dedicated to the Zwicky Transient Facility , ZTF), the Palomar 60-inch (1.5 m) Telescope, and the 30-centimetre (12-inch) Gattini-IR telescope. Decommissioned instruments include the Palomar Testbed Interferometer and the first telescopes at

116-507: A CCD camera . Two moons of the planet Uranus were discovered in September 1997, bringing the planet's total known moons to 17 at that time. One was Caliban (S/1997 U 1), which was discovered on 6 September 1997 by Brett J. Gladman , Philip D. Nicholson , Joseph A. Burns , and John J. Kavelaars using the 200-inch Hale Telescope. The other Uranian moon discovered then is Sycorax (initial designation S/1997 U 2) and

174-627: A Serrurier truss , then newly invented by Mark U. Serrurier of Caltech in Pasadena in 1935, designed to flex in such a way as to keep all of the optics in alignment. Originally, the Hale Telescope was going to use a primary mirror of fused quartz manufactured by General Electric, but instead the primary mirror was cast in 1934 at Corning Glass Works in New York state using Corning's then new material called Pyrex ( borosilicate glass ). The mirror

232-409: A prism or by diffraction by a diffraction grating . Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy is an example. These spectrometers utilize the phenomenon of optical dispersion . The light from a source can consist of a continuous spectrum , an emission spectrum (bright lines), or an absorption spectrum (dark lines). Because each element leaves its spectral signature in the pattern of lines observed,

290-406: A spectral analysis can reveal the composition of the object being analyzed. A spectrometer that is calibrated for measurement of the incident optical power is called a spectroradiometer . Optical emission spectrometers (often called "OES or spark discharge spectrometers"), are used to evaluate metals to determine the chemical composition with very high accuracy. A spark is applied through

348-459: A time-of-flight mass spectrometer . When a fast charged particle (charge q , mass m ) enters a constant magnetic field B at right angles, it is deflected into a circular path of radius r , due to the Lorentz force . The momentum p of the particle is then given by where m and v are mass and velocity of the particle. The focusing principle of the oldest and simplest magnetic spectrometer,

406-418: A central hole was also part of the mold so light could pass through the finished mirror when it was used in a Cassegrain configuration (a Pyrex plug for this hole was also made to be used during the grinding and polishing process ). While the glass was being poured into the mold during the first attempt to cast the 200-inch mirror, the intense heat caused several of the molding blocks to break loose and float to

464-450: A gas. The first spectrometers were used to split light into an array of separate colors. Spectrometers were developed in early studies of physics , astronomy , and chemistry . The capability of spectroscopy to determine chemical composition drove its advancement and continues to be one of its primary uses. Spectrometers are used in astronomy to analyze the chemical composition of stars and planets , and spectrometers gather data on

522-409: A high voltage on the surface which vaporizes particles into a plasma. The particles and ions then emit radiation that is measured by detectors (photomultiplier tubes) at different characteristic wavelengths. Some forms of spectroscopy involve analysis of electron energy rather than photon energy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is an example. A mass spectrometer is an analytical instrument that

580-523: A major transient astronomy program, the Zwicky Transient Facility . The Oschin was created to facilitate astronomical reconnaissance, and has been used in many notable astronomical surveys —among them are: The initial Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS or POSS-I), sponsored by the National Geographic Institute, was completed in 1958. The first plates were exposed in November 1948 and

638-527: A multi-stage, high-order adaptive optics system to provide diffraction -limited imaging in the near-infrared. Key historical science results with the Hale include cosmological measurement of the Hubble flow , the discovery of quasars as the precursor of Active Galactic Nuclei , and studies of stellar populations and stellar nucleosynthesis . The Oschin and 60-inch telescopes operate robotically and together support

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696-432: A new transient astronomy sky survey, the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). The 60-inch telescope operates robotically, and supports ZTF by providing rapid, low-dispersion optical spectra for initial transient classification using the for-purpose Spectral Energy Distribution Machine (SEDM) integral field spectrograph . Palomar Observatory is an active research facility. However, selected observatory areas are open to

754-407: A physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomenon where the spectral components are somehow mixed. In visible light a spectrometer can separate white light and measure individual narrow bands of color, called a spectrum. A mass spectrometer measures the spectrum of the masses of the atoms or molecules present in

812-402: A primary mirror made of a single rigid piece of glass. Using a monolithic mirror much larger than the 5-meter Hale or 6-meter BTA-6 is prohibitively expensive due to the cost of both the mirror, and the massive structure needed to support it. A mirror beyond that size would also sag slightly under its own weight as the telescope is rotated to different positions, changing the precision shape of

870-553: Is accelerating or not, and S. George Djorgovski 's quasar search. The camera for the Palomar QUEST Survey was a mosaic of 112 charge-coupled devices (CCDs) covering the whole (4° × 4°) field of view of the Schmidt telescope. At the time it was built, it was the largest CCD mosaic used in an astronomical camera. This instrument was used to produce The Big Picture, the largest astronomical photograph ever produced. The Big Picture

928-542: Is on display at Griffith Observatory . Current research programs on the 200-inch Hale Telescope cover the range of the observable universe, including studies on near-Earth asteroids , outer Solar System planets, Kuiper Belt objects, star formation , exoplanets , black holes and x-ray binaries , supernovae and other transient source followup, and quasars / Active Galactic Nuclei . The 48-inch Samuel Oschin Schmidt Telescope operates robotically, and supports

986-414: Is used to identify the amount and type of chemicals present in a sample by measuring the mass-to-charge ratio and abundance of gas-phase ions . The energy spectrum of particles of known mass can also be measured by determining the time of flight between two detectors (and hence, the velocity) in a time-of-flight spectrometer . Alternatively, if the particle-energy is known, masses can be determined in

1044-551: The Rockefeller Foundation in 1928, he orchestrated the planning, design, and construction of the observatory, but with the project ending up taking 20 years he did not live to see its commissioning. The Hale was groundbreaking for its time, with double the diameter of the second-largest telescope , and pioneered many new technologies in telescope mount design and in the design and fabrication of its large aluminum coated "honeycomb" low thermal expansion Pyrex mirror. It

1102-579: The University of California , and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory . It is equipped with modern optical and infrared array imagers, spectrographs, and an adaptive optics system. It has also used lucky cam imaging, which in combination with adaptive optics pushed the mirror close to its theoretical resolution for certain types of viewing. One of the Corning Labs' glass test blanks for the Hale

1160-473: The origin of the universe . Examples of spectrometers are devices that separate particles , atoms , and molecules by their mass , momentum , or energy . These types of spectrometers are used in chemical analysis and particle physics . Optical spectrometers (often simply called "spectrometers"), in particular, show the intensity of light as a function of wavelength or of frequency. The different wavelengths of light are separated by refraction in

1218-550: The 200-inch Hale, called S/2010 J 1 and later named Jupiter LI . In October 2017 the Hale Telescope was able to record the spectrum of the first recognized interstellar object, 1I/2017 U1 ("ʻOumuamua"); while no specific mineral was identified it showed the visitor had a reddish surface color. In December 2023 the Hale Telescope began serving as the receiving antenna for the Deep Space Optical Communications experiment on NASA's Psyche mission . Up until

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1276-494: The Greenway Center and has extensive embedded multimedia to provide additional context. Similarly the observatory actively maintains an extensive website and YouTube channel to support public engagement. The observatory is located off State Route 76 in northern San Diego County, California , two hours' drive from downtown San Diego and three hours' drive from central Los Angeles ( UCLA , LAX airport). Those staying at

1334-441: The Hale Telescope and Schmidt Cameras, producing a series of cross-section engineering drawings. Porter worked on the designs in collaboration with many engineers and Caltech committee members. Max Mason directed the construction and Theodore von Karman was involved in the engineering. Much of the surrounding region of Southern California has adopted shielded lighting to reduce the light pollution that would potentially affect

1392-622: The POSS I and POSS II plates). Mueller also discovered several comets and minor planets during the course of POSS II, and the bright Comet Wilson 1986 was discovered by then-graduate-student C. Wilson early in the survey. Until the completion of the Two Micron All Sky Survey ( 2MASS ), POSS II was the most extensive wide-field sky survey. When completed, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey will surpass POSS I and POSS II in depth, although

1450-663: The POSS covers almost 2.5 times more area on the sky. POSS II also exists in digitized form (that is, the photographic plates were scanned) as part of the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS). The multi-year POSS projects were followed by the Palomar Quasar Equatorial Survey Team (QUEST) Variability survey. This survey yielded results that were used by several projects, including the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking project. Another program that used

1508-469: The QUEST results discovered 90377 Sedna on 14 November 2003, and around 40 Kuiper belt objects. Other programs that share the camera are Shri Kulkarni 's search for gamma-ray bursts (this takes advantage of the automated telescope's ability to react as soon as a burst is seen and take a series of snapshots of the fading burst), Richard Ellis 's search for supernovae to test whether the universe's expansion

1566-534: The Russian BTA-6 telescope saw first light . Astronomers using the Hale Telescope have discovered quasars (a subset of what was to become known as Active Galactic Nuclei ) at cosmological distances. They have studied the chemistry of stellar populations, leading to an understanding of the stellar nucleosynthesis as to origin of elements in the universe in their observed abundances, and have discovered thousands of asteroids . A one-tenth-scale engineering model of

1624-472: The best site, and less likely to be affected by the growing light pollution problem in urban centers like Los Angeles . The Corning Glass Works was assigned the task of making a 200-inch (5.1 m) primary mirror. Construction of the observatory facilities and dome started in 1936, but because of interruptions caused by World War II , the telescope was not completed until 1948 when it was dedicated. Due to slight distortions of images, corrections were made to

1682-677: The building of the telescopes at the Mount Wilson Observatory with grants from the Carnegie Institution of Washington : the 60-inch (1.5 m) telescope in 1908 and the 100-inch (2.5 m) telescope in 1917. These telescopes were very successful, leading to the rapid advance in understanding of the scale of the Universe through the 1920s, and demonstrating to visionaries like Hale the need for even larger collectors. The chief optical designer for Hale's previous 100-inch telescope

1740-476: The community support group, Palomar Observatory Docents. Palomar Observatory also has an on-site museum—the Greenway Visitor Center, containing observatory and astronomy-relevant exhibits, a gift shop, and hosts periodic public events. For those unable to travel to the observatory, Palomar provides an extensive virtual tour that provides virtual access to all the major research telescopes on-site and

1798-468: The direction of George McCauley. Dr. J.A. Anderson was the initial project manager, assigned in the early 1930s. The telescope (the largest in the world at that time) saw first light January 26, 1949, targeting NGC 2261 . The American astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble was the first astronomer to use the telescope. The 200-inch telescope was the largest telescope in the world from 1949 until 1975, when

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1856-409: The energy spectrum of alpha particles in an alpha particle spectrometer, of beta particles in a beta particle spectrometer, of particles (e.g., fast ions ) in a particle spectrometer, or to measure the relative content of the various masses in a mass spectrometer . Since Danysz' time, many types of magnetic spectrometers more complicated than the semicircular type have been devised. Generally,

1914-611: The fundamental nature of the universe. Hale followed this article with a letter to the International Education Board (later absorbed into the General Education Board ) of the Rockefeller Foundation dated April 16, 1928, in which he requested funding for this project. In his letter, Hale stated: "No method of advancing science is so productive as the development of new and more powerful instruments and methods of research. A larger telescope would not only furnish

1972-549: The last in April 1958. This survey was performed using 14-inch (6- degree ) blue-sensitive (Kodak 103a-O) and red-sensitive (Kodak 103a-E) photographic plates on the Oschin Telescope. The survey covered the sky from a declination of +90° ( celestial north pole ) to −27° and all right ascensions and had a sensitivity to +22 magnitudes (about 1 million times fainter than the limit of human vision). A southern extension extending

2030-607: The last world-leading telescope to have a parabolic primary mirror . In 1928 Hale secured a grant of $ 6 million from the Rockefeller Foundation for "the construction of an observatory, including a 200-inch reflecting telescope" to be administered by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), of which Hale was a founding member. In the early 1930s, Hale selected a site at 1,700 m (5,600 ft) on Palomar Mountain in San Diego County, California , US, as

2088-666: The light-collecting area of the second-largest scope when it was commissioned in 1949. Other contemporary telescopes were the Hooker Telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory and the Otto Struve Telescope at the McDonald Observatory. Spectrometers A spectrometer ( / s p ɛ k ˈ t r ɒ m ɪ t ər / ) is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure spectral components of

2146-489: The nearby Palomar Campground can visit Palomar Observatory by hiking 2.2 miles (3.5 km) up Observatory Trail. Palomar has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen Csa ). Hale Telescope The Hale Telescope is a 200-inch (5.1 m), f / 3.3 reflecting telescope at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County , California , US, named after astronomer George Ellery Hale . With funding from

2204-519: The necessary gain in light space-penetration and photographic resolving power, but permit the application of ideas and devices derived chiefly from the recent fundamental advances in physics and chemistry." The 200-inch telescope is named after astronomer and telescope builder George Ellery Hale . It was built by Caltech with a $ 6 million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, using a Pyrex blank manufactured by Corning Glass Works under

2262-467: The observatory, an 18-inch (46 cm) Schmidt camera from 1936. Astronomer George Ellery Hale , whose vision created Palomar Observatory, built the world's largest telescope four times in succession. He published a 1928 article proposing what was to become the 200-inch Palomar reflector; it was an invitation to the American public to learn about how large telescopes could help answer questions relating to

2320-445: The observatory. Palomar Observatory remains an active research facility, operating multiple telescopes every clear night, and supporting a large international community of astronomers who study a broad range of research topics. The Hale Telescope remains in active research use and operates with a diverse instrument suite of optical and near-infrared spectrometers and imaging cameras at multiple foci . The Hale also operates with

2378-532: The optical shop in Pasadena (now the Synchrotron building at Caltech) standard telescope mirror making techniques were used to turn the flat blank into a precise concave parabolic shape, although they had to be executed on a grand scale. A special 240 in (6.1 m) 25,000 lb (11 t) mirror cell jig was constructed which could employ five different motions when the mirror was ground and polished. Over 13 years almost 10,000 lb (4.5 t) of glass

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2436-427: The public during the day. Visitors can take self-guided tours of the 200-inch telescope daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The observatory is open 7 days a week, year round, except for December 24 and 25 and during times of inclement weather. Guided tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope dome and observing area are available Saturdays and Sundays from April through October. Behind-the-scenes tours for the public are offered through

2494-854: The same field centers as the corresponding northern declination zones. Unlike POSS-I, the Whiteoak extension consisted only of red-sensitive (Kodak 103a-E) photographic plates. The Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey ( POSS II , sometimes Second Palomar Sky Survey ) was performed in the 1980s and 1990s and made use of better, faster films and an upgraded telescope. The Oschin Schmidt was upgraded with an achromatic corrector and provisions for autoguiding. Images were recorded in three wavelengths: blue (IIIaJ. 480 nm), red (IIIaF, 650 nm), and near-infrared (IVN, 850 nm) plates. Observers on POSS II included C. Brewer, D. Griffiths, W. McKinley, J. Dave Mendenhall , K. Rykoski, Jeffrey L. Phinney , and Jean Mueller (who discovered over 100 supernovae by comparing

2552-419: The semicircular spectrometer, invented by J. K. Danisz, is shown on the left. A constant magnetic field is perpendicular to the page. Charged particles of momentum p that pass the slit are deflected into circular paths of radius r = p/qB . It turns out that they all hit the horizontal line at nearly the same place, the focus; here a particle counter should be placed. Varying B , this makes possible to measure

2610-416: The sky coverage of the POSS to −33° declination was shot in 1957–1958. The final POSS I dataset consisted of 937 plate pairs. The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) produced images which were based on the photographic data developed in the course of POSS-I. J.B. Whiteoak, an Australian radio astronomer, used the same instrument to extend POSS-I data south to −42° declination . Whiteoak's observations used using

2668-425: The surface, which must be accurate to within 2 millionths of an inch (50 nm ). Modern telescopes over 9 meters use a different mirror design to solve this problem, with either a single thin flexible mirror or a cluster of smaller segmented mirrors , whose shape is continuously adjusted by a computer-controlled active optics system using actuators built into the mirror support cell . The moving weight of

2726-622: The telescope at Corning Community College in Corning, New York , home of the Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated), was used to discover at least one minor planet, 34419 Corning . † Russell W. Porter developed the Art Deco architecture of the Observatory's buildings, including the dome of the 200-inch Hale Telescope. Porter was also responsible for much of the technical design of

2784-680: The telescope throughout 1949. It became available for research in 1950. Postage Stamp. The US Post Office issued a 3c postage stamp in 1948 commemorating the Hale Telescope and Observatory. A functioning one-tenth scale model of the telescope was also made at Corning. The 200-inch (510 cm) telescope saw first light on January 26, 1949, at 10:06   pm PST under the direction of American astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble , targeting NGC 2261 , an object also known as Hubble's Variable Nebula. The telescope continues to be used every clear night for scientific research by astronomers from Caltech and their operating partners, Cornell University ,

2842-486: The telescope, and the technology developed for it, advanced the study of the spectra of stars, interstellar matter, AGNs, and quasars. Quasars were first identified as high redshift sources by spectra taken with the Hale Telescope. Halley's Comet (1P) upcoming 1986 approach to the Sun was first detected by astronomers David C. Jewitt and G. Edward Danielson on 16 October 1982 using the 200-inch Hale Telescope equipped with

2900-430: The top, ruining the mirror. The defective mirror was used to test the annealing process. After the mold was re-engineered, a second mirror was successfully cast. After cooling several months, the finished mirror blank was transported by rail to Pasadena, California. Once in Pasadena the mirror was transferred from the rail flat car to a specially designed semi-trailer for road transport to where it would be polished. In

2958-412: The upper dome is about 1000 US tons, and can rotate on wheels. The dome doors weigh 125 tons each. The dome is made of welded steel plates about 10 mm thick. The first observation of the Hale Telescope was of NGC 2261 on January 26, 1949. During its first 50 years, the Hale Telescope made many significant contributions to stellar evolution, cosmology, and high-energy astrophysics. Similarly,

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3016-496: The year 2010, telescopes could only directly image exoplanets under exceptional circumstances. Specifically, it is easier to obtain images when the planet is especially large (considerably larger than Jupiter ), widely separated from its parent star, and hot so that it emits intense infrared radiation. However, in 2010 a team from NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory demonstrated that a vortex coronagraph could enable small scopes to directly image planets. The Hale had four times

3074-458: Was George Willis Ritchey , who intended the new telescope to be of Ritchey–Chrétien design. Compared to the usual parabolic primary, this design would have provided sharper images over a larger usable field of view. However, Ritchey and Hale had a falling-out. With the project already late and over budget, Hale refused to adopt the new design, with its complex curvatures, and Ritchey left the project. The Mount Palomar Hale Telescope turned out to be

3132-465: Was also discovered using the 200 inch Hale Telescope. The Cornell Mid-Infrared Asteroid Spectroscopy (MIDAS) survey used the Hale Telescope with a spectrograph to study spectra from 29 asteroids. In 2009, using a coronograph, the Hale Telescope was used to discover the star Alcor B , which is a companion to Alcor in the Big Dipper . In 2010, a new satellite of planet Jupiter was discovered with

3190-425: Was cast in a mold with 36 raised mold blocks (similar in shape to a waffle iron ). This created a honeycomb mirror that cut the amount of Pyrex needed down from over 40 short tons (36 t) to just 20 short tons (18 t), making a mirror that would cool faster in use and have multiple "mounting points" on the back to evenly distribute its weight (note – see external links 1934 article for drawings). The shape of

3248-565: Was completed in 1949 and is still in active use. The Hale Telescope represented the technological limit in building large optical telescopes for over 30 years. It was the largest telescope in the world from its construction in 1949 until the Soviet BTA-6 was built in 1976, and the second largest until the construction of the Keck Observatory Keck 1 in Hawaii in 1993. Hale supervised

3306-399: Was ground and polished away, reducing the weight of the mirror to 14.5 short tons (13.2 t). The mirror was coated (and still is re-coated every 18–24 months) with a reflective aluminum surface using the same aluminum vacuum-deposition process invented in 1930 by Caltech physicist and astronomer John Strong . The Hale's 200 in (510 cm) mirror was near the technological limit of

3364-485: Was used for the C. Donald Shane telescope 's 120-inch (300 cm) primary mirror. The collecting area of the mirror is about 31,000 square inches (20 square meters). The Hale Telescope uses a special type of equatorial mount called a "horseshoe mount", a modified yoke mount that replaces the polar bearing with an open "horseshoe" structure that gives the telescope full access to the entire sky, including Polaris and stars near it. The optical tube assembly (OTA) uses

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