Evening star., 1939-05-06
Forthest Glimpse Into Space
Possible With New Telescope
Objects $4,000, ,ooo, 900, 600, 900, 900 Miles
Away Can Be Seen With Texas Instrument
By THOMAS r. HENRY.
Star Stan Correspondent.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
Star Stan Correspondent.
FORT DAVIS, Tex, May 6.-Man's
farthest glimpse into the immen-
sity of time and space became pos
sible here last night with the dedi-
cation of rejecting telescope, the
second largest and the most up-to-
date on earth, which will record light
a million times too faint for the hu-
man eye to discern.
It should be able to discern objects
in the heavens $40 1000 900 000. .000,-
000, 900 miles away. Its chief feature
Is mirror 81 inches in diameter,
whose surface is perfect within a
millionth of an inch. It's purpose Is
to serve as a gigantic funnel of light,
permitting the astronomers to con-
centrate on one spot large quantity
of starlight from one point in the
heavens.
The new telescope. set up jointly
by the University Of Chicago, and
the University of Texas at the Nc
Donald Observatory here, is on the
summit of Mount Loche in the barren
Davis Mountains, one of the highest,
driest spots in North America and
located at latitude in which many
Southern stars are visible At pres
ent it is exceeded in size only by the
100-inch telescope of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington in Mount
Wilson, Calf, but it has the ad-
vantage Of many technical improve
ments which were not available two
decades ago when this great observ-
ing instrument was set up. 1t will
retain its pre-eminence until next
year when the new 200-inch telescope
is put into operation by the Carnegie
Institution on Mount Palomar in
California.
Perfectly Balanced.
The moving parts of this new tele-
scope weigh approximately As tons,
yet this mass so perfectly balanced
that only one-third horsepower
motor is used to revolve the instru-
ment In direction counter to that
of the motion of the earth in order
to keep it trained on a single point
in the heavens.
The telescope functions entirely
through the use Of mirrors in various
combinations. For example, the
light from a star under observation
may be reflected from the great
mirror at the bottom of the tele-
scope and focused at a point at the
extreme end where a camera is set
up. Or mirror may be placed in
the upper part of the tube to receive
the light reflected from the large
mirror and in turn reflect it at right
angles to point convenient to an
observer on an observing bridge.
There is a hole in the middle Of
the great mirror. The light gathered
may pass upward to a mirror in the
top of the tube and be reflected back
again through this hole into an eye
piece or camera. Primarily. it is
stressed, the instrument is not In
tended for visual observations. The
human eye is too weak and inac-
curate an instrument for the pur-
poses of the astronomers and human
endurance is not sufficient to under
take the long vigils necessary for
the type of observation demanded.
Nearly all the work will be photo
graphic.
Dome 50 Feet High.
The dome in which the telescope
is inclosed is so feet high and weighs
lis tons, and yet 1t must revolve to
permit the mirror to be pointed to
any desired region of the heavens.
1t is mounted on wheels with anti
friction bearings. 1t is operated by
push button control.
The new telescope, it was stressed
at the dedication ceremonies last
night, Is not intended primarily for
extending mans explorations of the
far depths of space from which the
light received on earth today left
millions of years ago. This will be
the special job Of the new Carnegie
Institution telescope. Instead, this
instrument will be devoted to getting
finer and finer details about the
structure of the actual Milky Way
galaxy with its billions Of stars and
hidden systems of stars, many OF
them hidden behind great masses OF
cosmic dust. For this reason no
pains have been spared in grinding
the mirror as perfectly as is humanity
possible. The work has required four
years In the optical shops of the
Warner & Swasey Co. in Cleveland
So exacting was the job that at
some stages 1t was possible to devote
only Is minutes a day to the
grinding.
Some Of the special problems
were stressed by speakers at the
dedicatory exercises last night
such as that Of the general dimen-
sions Of the Milky Way galaxy de-
scribed by DR.. j. H. Oort, director
of the Leyden, Holland, Observa-
tory.
Cannot Be Proved ut Present.
1t is expected that the shape OF
the galaxy will be essentially q
spiral, such as that Of star con-
generations of similar size in the
far depths Of space. At present
however, this cannot be proved be-
cause the astronomer Is on the in
side looking out and is in the posi-
ton Of q person trying to describe
the appearance of house without
ever rnin0 0,lt of do0rS
The neighborhood Of the sun, DR.
Oort said, is bad observing plat
form. The best that can be done
Is to study the distribution and