The dome of the Hale telescope; like a white egg with two large slits opened to the side. Flowers and trees in the foreground highlight just how large the facility is.

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1. Thomas Connor (thomasconnor@mstdn.social)'s status on Monday, 30-May-2022 08:00:48 UTC Thomas Connor

   in reply to

   As I said, tonight I'm on the 200-inch (that's the diameter of the primary mirror) telescope on Palomar mountain in southern California. The Hale telescope, to use its proper name, was once the largest optical telescope in the world. It's also a giant, in a way that even larger, modern telescopes are not. Nowadays, we can stack some pretty impressive telescopes in relatively smaller domes, but construction of this started before WWII. It is, in some ways, the last of the Telescope Battleships.

   First light occurred in 1949. But in June, 1948 there was a large dedication ceremony. Photos from that event really drive home just how freakin' big the whole thing is.