Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-10-15
no LIE MOON. 80 MILrs.
Such WIN Seem the Distance Through
ParIs' Now Telescope.


ParIs' Now Telescope
The huge block OF crystal which viii
become the mirror for the great tele
scope has safely arrived in Paris, says
Paris dispatch to the London News
II all goes well the exhibition of 1906
VIII be able to boast of a distinct feat.
ure. Whether the moons features will
be equally distinct is another question
Prof. Loewy thinks not, but M. Deloncle
Is still determined to carry through his
Idea. THE moon one yard off, II
was thus the scheme Of the gigantic
telescope was spoken OF In the papers,
but M. Deloncle, however ambitious he
may be In Central Africa, protests that
he never had 80 preposterous a notion.
He claims that II will be possible to
throw on to a screen views of our satel-
lite brought within distance Of thirty
eight miles. This remains to be seen.
However, everybody will wish M. De-
loncle, and still more especially his
shareholders, every success in what one
must still regard as an experiment,
The new telescope mirror Is the larg-
est ever made. 1t was cast at Jeumont,
manufacturing place, and the last
French station on the line to Liege,
Cologne and Berlin. This splendid
block Of homogeneous crystal weighs
5000 kilogrammes. Its diameter is 2.05
meters, and in its present nearly rough
state 1t cost $4,000. OF course, 1t was
conveyed to Paris in a special train.
1t was wrapped up in heavy felt blan-
kets, protected by hoops Of soft wood,
with metal tires, mounted on pivots.
Thus packed, the mirror was tightly
wedged in case that was placed in the
wagon on bed of hurdles and layers
of hay. For greater safety, the train
stopped only once, at Tergnier and
went at as slow pace as a royal train,
escorted by railway inspector. 1t
was insured to its full value. The same
afternoon it was removed from the
northern terminus to the workshop.
The mirror, before leaving Jeumont,
went through a second grinding of its
faces, being as smooth as fine plate
glass. But for telescope purposes this
sort of smoothness is roughness itself.
The finishing process will take two
years and six months, by more expedi-
tious processes than any hitherto in
use, which, moreover, will give greater
accuracy than anything known. Hith-
erto astronomical mirrors and lenses
have been polished by hand by slowly
rubbing the glass with the naked hand,
sometimes, but not always, moistened
with oil, albumen and other substances
which are the makers secret. The
drawback Of this process is that the
mere heat of the hand may cause the
surface to warp. The new mechanical
of which particulars are not
given, will produce surface approach
ing a true plane, within 10000 part
of millimeter. Even this marvellous
finish will leave margin, astronomers
tell us, for errors. The whole finishing
process will cost $4,000. The silvering
will not cost anything to speak of. The
will be mounted on two arms
ten meters long and will be set in mo-
tion by machinery of the usual sort.
The rays gathered from planetary space
will be reflected horizontally through a
tube sixty meters long, laid
on piles Of masonry. The lenses of flint
and crown glass will be one meter
twenty-five centimeters, the largest in
the world, and the images, enlarged
5000 times, will be thrown onto a
screen which thousands of people will
view at a time. The moon will il all
goes well, be brought within thirty
eight miles, but it is most doubtful
whether images on this scale will prove
correct Mr.. Loewy, the assistant dl-
rector of the Paris observatory, who
has submitted some splendid photo
graphs of the moon, believes that the
limit Of ninety-fOur miles he has reach !
ed is the utmost practicable for a long
time to come. Larger images will be
indistlnct.