California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Sixty-foot tower telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory, ca.1930

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Sixty-foot tower telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory, ca.1930

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Photograph of the sixty-foot tower telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory, ca.1930. The 60-foot metal framework surrounds a small house, which was probably used as a research facility. An elevator (or parts of the telescope?) protrudes from the center of the house and extends to the top of the tower where a dome structure is perched. A man(?) stands inside the dome structure. A smaller tower structure is visible beyond the trees at left. The area is surrounded by trees. Picture file card reads: "the spectroscope used with this new form of telescope is mounted in a wall 80 feet deep in the earth beneath the town".; "Solar astronomy at Mt. Wilson Observatory has a rich history. There is probably no historical event that can be singled out as the most important solar discovery of the 20th Century, but Mt. Wilson has been home to some of the greatest scientific achievements. In addition to having the largest photographic archive of white-light images of the sun, and having the distinction of being the first solar telescope to be built on a tower, the 60- Foot Solar Tower is home to two of the most important discoveries in the field of solar research: George Ellery Hale's discovery of magnetic fields and Robert Leighton's pioneering work in helioseismology. The mountain is host to several ongoing observing projects using the onsite facilities. The observatory has two primary nighttime telescopes: the 60-inch telescope, built in 1908, is home to the HK Project; the 100-inch (Hooker) telescope, built in 1917, has a new instrument for Adaptive Optics. Two solar observatories have been in operation since the early days of the Observatory. The 60-foot tower telescope, operated by USC, is part of a worldwide network monitoring helioseismology. The 150-foot tower telescope, operated by UCLA, investigates long-term changes of solar magnetic activity." -- unknown author.

Asset Metadata

Title Sixty-foot tower telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory, ca.1930

Subject Astronomical instruments (lcsh), Mount Wilson Observatory (subject), Observatories (lcsh), Observatories -- Mount Wilson Observatory (file heading), research facilities (adlf), Telescopes (lcsh)

Tags OAI-PMH Harvest

Place California (states), Los Angeles (counties), USA (countries)

Temporal Subject 1930

Type images

Format 2 photographs : glass photonegative, photoprint, b&w ; 26 x 21 cm. (aacr2), glass plate negatives (format), photographic prints (aat), photographs (aat)

Source California Historical Society (contributing entity), California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960 (collection), Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960 (subcollection)

Date Created 1930

Creator Pierce, C.C. (Charles C.), 1861-1946 (photographer)

Publisher University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Repository Email specol@lib.usc.edu

Repository Name USC Libraries Special Collections

Repository Location Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189

Rights Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Copyright Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Access Conditions Send requests to address or e-mail given

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/chs-m10580

Identifier 5671 (accession number), CHS-5671 (call number), CHS-5671 (filename), chs-m265 (legacy collection record id), chs-c65-13721 (legacy record id), chs-m10580 (legacy record id), USC-1-1-1-10729 (legacy record id), 1-100-11 (microfiche number), USC (project)

IIIF ID [Document.IIIFV3ID]

DM Record ID 13721

Unique identifier UC143325

Legacy Identifier CHS-5671.tiff

Type Image

Internet Media Type image/tiff

Resolution 14.9 in × 18.9 in at 300dpi
37.9 cm × 48.0 cm at 300dpi

Inherited Values

Title Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Description The nearly 15,000 unique photographs of this collection contain the work of C.C. Pierce which cover the Los Angeles region city, street and architectural views, California Missions, Southwestern Native Americans, and turn-of-century Nevada, Arizona, and California. Pierce, active from 1886 to 1940, was one of the leading photographers of his day and amassed a collection of 15,000 images, including his own and those bought and copied from his contemporaries, George Wharton James and Charles Puck. The James collection contains over 2,000 images of portraits, customs, ceremonies, arts, and games of various groups of Southwestern Native Americans.

Date Created 1860/1960

Linked assets

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

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