Astrophysics (Index)About

Hooker Telescope

(2.54-m reflector telescope in California)

The Hooker Telescope is a 2.54-m (100-inch) reflector telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory. It was the world's largest telescope from its opening in 1917, until the opening of the Hale Telescope in 1949. After that, I believe it remained the second largest telescope until the 1960s (when some similar sized telescopes exceeded it), and I believe it remained "close to second largest" until at least 1970. It is still one of the larger telescopes in the world, but due to light pollution at its location (near Los Angeles), and perhaps due to its age, it has been relegated to public/educational use rather than research. Naturally, it was a top research telescope for decades: Edwin Hubble and Fritz Zwicky were among those who made pioneering discoveries using Hooker Telescope observations.

One interesting early use of the Hooker Telescope was as an optical interferometer, created by mounting a periscope-like device on the front of it. In 1919, it was used to measure the diameter of several nearby stars.


(telescope,reflector,ground,California)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Wilson_Observatory#100-inch_Hooker_telescope
http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/MountWilson100.htm
https://www.astronomy.com/today-in-the-history-of-astronomy/nov-1-1917-the-hooker-telescope-sees-first-light/
https://www.mtwilson.edu/building-the-100-inch-telescope/
https://www.mtwilson.edu/arrival-of-the-100-inch-mirror/
https://pages.astronomy.ua.edu/keel/telescopes/wilson.html
https://www.npr.org/2015/04/25/401843663/hubbles-other-telescope-and-the-day-it-rocked-our-world

Referenced by pages:
coudé focus telescope
Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO)
optical interferometer

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