18-TON JEWEL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 136, 11 June 1938, Page 11

18-TON JEWEL.

IN TEMPLE OF STARS.

PROGRESS OF WORK.

WORLD'S BIGGEST TEWESCOPE.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

LOS ANGELES, May 24

Astronomy's greatest temple of the stare, the 1000-ton steel helmet that will safeguard an 18-ton jewel, hag just been completed on the 6000 ft summit of Palomar Mountain, near Los Angeles. The dome of this "temple" that will house the California Institute of Technology's 200 in telescope and its gemlike glass "eye" is 14 storeys high and almost a city block in circumference, and is one of* the finest specimens of construction on the North American continent. The dome is l:>7i't in diameter Although the grinding of the telescope mirror has been completed in the shops, the final shaping, polishing and tenting is expected to require another year or two. Captain Clyde S. McDowell, supervising engineer of the project, reported that the telescope tube would be shipped to Los Angeles by water early next Auguet from the Philadelphia shops of the Westinghou«e Electric and Manufacturing Company. The cage in whieh observers will work may arrive in laj> Angeles late in June. Shortly, ground will be broken for an eight-bedroom "monastery" in which astronomers will live on Palomar Mountain, said Captain McDowell. ] In its completed form, the Palomar Obeervatory suggests the appearance of a Trojan war helmet. The rotating part of the dome is made of gin thick ste«-I plates that are 21ft long, 7ft wide and weigh a ton each. The lower circuli'r base consists of a 50ft-hijrh double wall of concrete. The steel dome not only turne automatically in following the stars, but opens like an eyelid, thu* providing a 30ft aperture through which the telescope will sweep the heavens.

This summer the dome will be painted' with heavy aluminium paint. A pas-1 senger and a freight elevator are now in! operation in the observatory, and final touches are now being given to dark roome, offices and a kitchenette. Even Temperature. The interior of the dome must, be kept at a temperature that varies no more than five degrees between day and night, according to Captain McDowell. The aluminium paint is expected to keep out heat from the sun, aided by an inner »heathing of aluminium metal which , lines the interior of the dome. Additional insulation is afforded by a 4in linin« of aluminium foil. e Architecturally, the new home of the 200 in telescope i* asserted to represent a milestone. The dome measurement-, approximate thoee of Rome's famed Pantheon, completed in 1:<8 A.D. as a temple honouring the gods. The Pantheon dome took 21 years to complete. whereas the Palomar Mountain Observatory was built in two yeara. As New Zealanders already are utvurr. the 200 in diameter telewopf i* th • largest "eye" in the world, ;in<l luii excited the admiiatidii of tlio wm Id mi i account of the spectacular t;> ~k ni" itcastin<r »m<l transfer li-.m Km-li n . United Stale« t<► ( '.i li turniii. -j.ft-i.il j ananjfcinents been iuail<! t" Ijiinj;: ! t lks giant frliis.* easting ncm*» the twin- • tinent.