Thursday, January 27, 2011

Regan Brumagen from The Rakow Library sends this information along about Palomar disk

Alan:

For those Club members attending the Symposium this fall or who might be visiting the Museum between now and then, the current exhibit in the library, Mirror to Discovery: The 200 Inch Disk and the Hale Reflecting Telescope at Palomar, might be of interest. The production of the 200-inch disk was a landmark achievement in telescope technology. Our exhibit tells the story of this innovation, the role of Corning Glass Works in its manufacture, and the disk’s place in the history of scientific discovery. We have some incredible images of the pouring—teams of ladlers working a giant ladle filled with 750 pounds of molten glass, as well as images of the shipping of the disk by railcar across the country, the polishing & grinding (which took 11 years) and its installation at Palomar. It’s a fascinating story….More about the exhibit can be found on our website (www.cmog.org/library)

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