Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-06-04
TO THE MOON, IS MILES.
Such VIII Seem the Distance
Through Paris New Telescopes.

paris Dispatch in the London NeWs)
The huge block OF crystal, which will be-
come the. mirror for the great telescope,
has safely arrived I'm Paris. II all goes
well. the exhibition Of 1900 will he able to
boast Of distinct feature whether the
moons features will be equally distinct Is
another question. Professor Loewy thinks
not, but NJ. Deoncle Is still determined
to carry through his idea.
THE moon one yard off," IL was thus
the scheme OF the gigantic telescope was
spoken Of In the papers, but NJ Deloncle,
however ambitious he may be I'm Cen
trail Africa, protests that he never had so
preposterous = notion. He claims that
it will be possible TO throw on TO a screen
views of our satellite brought within
distance of thirty-eight miles. This re-
mains TO be seen. However everybody
will wish VI. Deloncle and still more
especially his shareholders, every sue
cess I'm what one must still regard as an
experiment.
The new telescope mirror Is the largest
ever made. 1t was cast at Jeumont a
manufacturing place. and the last French
station on the line TO Liege, Cologne, and
Berlin This splendid block of homo
geneous crystal weighs 5000 kilogrammes
It's diameter Is 205 meters and i'm its
present nearly rough state 1t cost fi,000
or course. il was conveyed to Paris In a
special train. II was wrapped up in
heavy felt blankets. protected by hoops
Of soft wood. with metal tires. mount
ed on pvots. Thus packed the mirror
was tightly wedged in a case that was
placed in the wagon on a 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
a railway inspector. IL was insured 10 it's
full value. The same afternoon IL was re-
moved from the nortbGrn terminus to the
workshop. The mirror, before leaving Jeu-
mont. went through a second grinding of
its faces, being as smooth as a fine plate
glass. But for telescope purposes this
sort Of smOOthness Is rOughness Itself
The finishing process will take two years
and six months. and by more expeditions
processes than any hitherto i'm use. which.
moreover will give greater accuracy than
anything known.
Hitherto 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 draw
back OF this process is that the mere heat
OF the hand may cause the surface 10
warp.
The new mechanical process, OF which
particulars are not given, will produce a
surface approaching n true plane within
one ten-thousandth part OF a millimeter.
Even this marvellous finish will leave a
margin. astronomers tell us. for errors.
The whole finishing process will cost 5000
The silvering will not cost anything to
speak Of.
The mirror will be mounted on two
arms ten meters long and will be set In
motion by machinery Of the usual sort
The rays gathered from planetary space
will be reflected horizontally through a
mammoth tube sixty meters long. laid on
piles Of masonry. The lenses of flint and
crown glass will be meter % centmeters,
the largest in the world. and the images,
enlarged 5000 times. will be thrown on to
screen. which thousands Of people will
view at a time.
The moon will. II all goes well, be
brought within thirty-eight miles. but II Is
most doubtful whether images on this
scale will prove correct. NJ. LOewy, the
assistant director of the Paris Observa-
tory. who has submitted some splendid
photographs OF the moon, believes that
the limit Of ninety-fOur miles he has
reached Is the utmost practicable for a
long time to come. Larger images will
be indlstinct