Mount Wilson Observatory and surrounding mountains, ca.1930

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Description

Photograph of Mount Wilson Observatory and surrounding mountains, ca.1930. The white observatory is surrounded by trees, with the exception of the path near the entrance, which appears to be a roadway. Mountains are visible in the distance.; "Mount Wilson Observatory is perched above the Los Angeles basin, above the smog and in a paradoxically ideal location for an observatory. The very inversion layer that traps pollutants in the L.A. basin is also responsible for the best astronomical 'seeing' in the continental United States. This excellent 'seeing' was appreciated by late 19th century astronomers and in 1904 led George Ellery Hale to build the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory on the site. 1904-1905 also saw the installation of the Snow Telescope - a device for spectroscopic and spectroheliographic studies of the sun and bright stars. In 1907 a 60-inch reflector telescope was completed and remains operational to this day. Shortly after installation of the 60-inch, work began on a 100-inch reflector - the largest mirror telescope attempted at the time. Financing for the mirror was provided by John Hooker with completion funds donated by Andrew Carnegie. The 100-inch bears John Hooker's name. The grinding of the mirror and design and construction of the mount, clock drive and dome were daunting tasks. And transporting the parts up the Mount Wilson Toll Road by mule and mule-assisted truck was in itself a combination of ingenuity, brute force and determination. [A good account of the early days of Mount Wilson can be found in Woodbury, David (1939) The Glass Giant of Palomar Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, 368 pgs.] In 1917 the 100-inch Hooker Telescope was completed and the term 'Solar' was dropped from observatory's name. Many important discoveries were made with the Hooker. Among these, Edwin Hubble revised our understanding of the size of the Universe and found convincing evidence of an expanding universe at the time when Einstein's theories were first being put to the test." -- Gary Fisher.

Asset Metadata

Title Mount Wilson Observatory and surrounding mountains, ca.1930

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

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 ; 21 x 26 cm.; 1 photograph : photoprint, b&w ; 21 x 26 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-m10569

Identifier 5670 (accession number), CHS-5670 (call number), CHS-5670 (filename), chs-m265 (legacy collection record id), chs-c65-15691 (legacy record id), chs-m10569 (legacy record id), USC-1-1-1-10717 (legacy record id), 1-100-10 (microfiche number), USC (project)

IIIF ID [Document.IIIFV3ID]

DM Record ID 15691

Unique identifier UC143321

Legacy Identifier CHS-5670.tiff

Type Image

Internet Media Type image/tiff

Resolution 18.9 in × 15.2 in at 300dpi
48.2 cm × 38.6 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

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