Union gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1899-1900, 1899-09-01

What does the finest telescope in the
world look like to man who doesn't
know a telescope from q barrel?
A reporter for the Chicago Inter
Ocean visited the Yerkes observatory
OF the University Of Chicago at Will
1ams Bay for the purpose Of answering
these questions. A big telescope Is al
Imost human. It is furnished with
curious sixth sense, a marvellous sec
ond sight. Mysterious, uncanny, huge,
lit powerfully impresses one and grows
more wonderful on closer acquaintance.
1.-THE whole observatory Is built about
Its monster eye. For the eys alone are
1.-THE motors, the flying pulleys, the NOV
able dome, the rising floor, and all the
curious instruments varying from the
delicately stNlng spider web Of the
micrometer to an apparatus weighing
fifty tons. Without the huge eye every
thing would be useless. This eye is
the lens of the refracting telescope in
THE main tower at the western end of
the observatory. 1t Is reached by a
flight of marble steps from the main
corridor. Entering the building in the
evening, all is quiet and dimly lighted.
the main tower quite dark. About
midway of the round dome is the ris-
ing floor, over which the telescope
swings. 1t is a triumph Of mechanical
skill, the only satisfactory means de-
Eyised for reaching the eye piece of a
big telescope as 1t is tilted up and down
or swung around on its axis.
I The telescope itself iA a big iron tube
sixty-two feet long, painted black. In
the end which looks. out through the
dome is the object glass or refracting
EYE, forty inches in diameter, or four
inches wider than the lens of any other
telescope of the kind in the world. The
iron tube, with its lenses, finder, eye
pieces and other appliances, weighs
nearly twenty tons. And yet SO nicely
lis 1t balanced that q strong pull with
the hand will swing 1t a foot or more.
THE huge telescope is moved on its axis
by electricity.
Describing the apparatus, DR.. Hale
finally fixed the big eye of the telescope
ON the planet Saturn. 1t was a fine,
clear night, with little disturbance In
the atmosphere, and Saturn appeared
ito twinkle about half way between the
sky line and the zenith. The eye piece
which was put on magnified nearly 500
Ediameters, one-eighth the highest pow
er used. This is how the planet Saturn
the biggest telescope in the world: 1t
appeared a yellow, round disk about
Ethe size Of the moon, not fat, but
clearly globular. Around 1t twinkled a
purple band a quarter of an inch wide.
Next to this was solid ring encircling
the planet, Of the same bright. yellow
color, and quite distinct; next to this
was a second narrow violet band, and
surrounding that second broad yel-
low band like the first. Around the
whole. .sparkled brilliant violet circle.
ISaturn's moons appeared as three tiny
round yellow marbles grouped to form
a pruning hook to the left of the plan
cts disk, while fourth one hung lit
tie lower down to itself on the same
side. No oscillation was apparent. Sat
urn's rings and satellites apparently
were of the same yellow color of the
planet. Sometimes these rings can be
discerned in their colors and form a
brilliant rainbow about the planet
From the outer rim of the planet prop.
eri to the outer edge of the outside ring,
the distance, through the telescope
looked to be about two inches. 1t is, in
fact, 972, 200 miles! Looking through
the huge refractor, the human eye Ii
able to discern a space of $4,000 miles
as two inches in the area Of the heay
ems! To the ordinary observer the shin
ing violet rings about the planet form
q: beautiful feature Of the view. These
rings, however, are due to imperfec
tions which exist in every telescope
and which astronomers would be only
too glad to dispense with.
The telescope was next turned upor
Jupiter, the largest planet in the solal
system, and as big as all of the othel
planets put together. The distance from
this earth to Jupiter is trifle of 400,
100000 miles, and it takes forty-thret
minutes for its light to reach the earth
EJupiter's disk looked about as big as 8
large marble, probably two inches II
diameter. At Its side, In nearly