Explanation:
On the night of December 13, 1908,
100 years ago today,
the 60-inch diameter
reflecting telescope of Mount Wilson Observatory was first
tested
on the stars.
It became the first successful large reflecting
telescope.
The 60-inch reflector demonstrated a scalable design that used a
mirror to gather faint starlight,
rather than a large and more difficult to support lens, becoming the
granddaddy of all, even larger, modern telescopes.
Now-famous astronomers, including
Harlow Shapley and
Edwin Hubble,
were able to use the 60-inch reflector to
embark on a new kind
of exploration of stars, distant galaxies, and
the nature
of the universe.
Still looking skyward
a century after its first light, the
historic
telescope is seen here pointing toward one of the
most recognizable
celestial events of 2008,
the remarkable conjunction of Moon, Venus, and Jupiter.
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