New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-17
nr GREATEST TELESCOPE.
.,v.1 DEDICATION OF THE YARkEs
OBSERVATORY THIS WEEK.

-u,,rRous PROMINENT ASTRoNoMh'i'' Ao'A A-
an THROUGH THE FoRTY-INcH GLASS
.xn TALK SCIENCE FOR A WEEK.
49,. formal dedication of the Yerkes As'ro-
to-, observatory and Its great forty-ihch re-
n.,;ng telescope will occur on Ihuisoay anu
,,..sov Of this week In connection "i'h 'iiiS
f" series of informal conferences nave
s arranged These will extend over me
w. preceding days and evenings, ana VIII De
ma nv a number Of prominent American
IA foreign scientists
sau observatory stands on a low hill. third
,us north Of Lake Geneva. pretty litue
~ water in Wisconsin, about seventy-hVe
Us northwest of Chico 60 Its environment
"'' ..oroueby rural the nearest postofiice t"lh-
' D., being more than a mile away. The
,,er gets such view as The TrlDunes
0''..rranh affords when he stands to the south
~. ~ the handsome edifice. The forty-inch
We IN the nearer left -hand tower. The south
s' tower is unoccupied at present but a
a., tueve-inch glass. which is already his
..,, instrument. has been set up under the
.,,srmost (northeastern) dome. In the attic
:. che last wing. under sliding section or the
.,o, is placed heliostat, or slightly concave
,-,o- moved by clOckwork, which throws an
,-.se of the sun into an inner room. and keeps
:. ,.o,onless for examination with other instru-
nents.
unnecessary at this time to describe the
u.-;ous chemical and spectroscopic laboratories
enc library and lecture and reception rooms
.hich occupy other parts Of the building. But
=, should a, least be said Of the Photographic
.,uinnent that 1t is especially designed to
,scilitate certain new classes Of work with
.h,ch Professor George f. Hale. director of the
oh.arvatory has been identified. and which
will form a conspicuous feature Of his future
s,udy And passing reference should also be
made to the workshop in the basement.
wa, deal labor which requires the services
=. mechanica as we'll as optical experts. and
which is usually performed at entirely indie
,sndent establishments. will be carried on here
pnder the supervision Of the director Of the
observatory whose special researches call for
exceptional apparatus. AS evidence Of the skill
exhibited by Professor Hale's own instrument
makers. it may be remarked that a new hello
STAT to replace the one just referred to. has
already been shaped and slvered there; and
IN time much larger Concave reflector 90
inches in dlmeter) will be manufactured in
the same place. Another delicate task recently
performed satisfactorily in this machine shop
I, the remodclling of a unique attachment to
the twelye-inch telescope called a spectre
Telegraph
Professor Hale's own special field of work is
solar research. and it is still further limited.
almost altogether. to spectroscopc methods.
Five or six years ag) at his own private OBJ
seryatory in Chicago he obtained some photo
caphs in q novel manner. He combined tele-
scope, spectroscope and camera in a way that
enabled him % use only the light Of some one,
carefully elected bright line of the solar spec
trum AS such line would always be char
sc;ers:ic Of particular substance, Of course
he would get an impression on his plate only