20170911 - Jim Shedlowsky - Giant Telescopes

What is a modern Giant telescope? How and from where do they come about? What technologies make them possible? These questions, along with a brief history of notable telescopes, are discussed in this presentation by Jim Shedlowsky.

Since Gallileo first turned his handmade refractor to the night sky in 1609 and began a new era in astronomical discoveries, astronomers have continually sought more “powerful” telescopes to uncover the mysteries of the heavens. For nearly three hundred years “more powerful” telescopes meant modestly larger, longer and much more refined instruments, to support the “positional astronomy” which dominated that era.

Then around the turn of the 20th century with the advent of new technologies ( i.e. photography, spectroscopy, etc. ), the science of Cosmology was born. George Ellery Hale seized the moment, built the 60inch reflector at Mt Wilson, and the age of the modern mega-reflector was begun, culminating with the dedication of the 200 inch Hale telescope at Mt Palomar.

This presentation will concentrate on the “post-Hale” period from 1949 until the present, and discuss the trials, tribulations, politics and personalities which had to be overcome, along with the significant technological advances, which resulted in the current and near future generation of Giant telescopes. Jim will review these huge instruments and the technologies that make them “tick”!
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The views expressed in presentations are those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent, and should not be attributed to, the Warren Astronomical Society.