Mount Wilson Observatory (redirected from Mt. Wilson Observatory)

Mount Wilson Observatory, astronomical observatory located in California on Mt. Wilson, near Pasadena. Mt. Wilson Observatory was founded in 1904 by George E. Hale. Its equipment includes 100-in. (2.5-m) and 60-in. (1.50-m) reflecting telescopes and two solar-tower telescopes 150 ft. (46 m) and 60 ft. (18 m) in length. The most recent addition is the CHARA (Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy) array operated by Georgia State Univ.; it consists of six 39-in. (1-m) aperture telescopes arranged in a Y-shape and contained in a 1,300-ft (400-m) diameter circle. When it becomes operational in 2000, the signals from the six telescopes will be combined and analyzed by a computer using optical interferometry techniques, producing the equivalent of the light-gathering power of a single telescope with a 1,300-ft (400-m) aperture. Principal research programs that have been conducted at the observatory include studies of the structure and dimensions of the universe and the physical nature, chemical composition, and evolution of celestial bodies. An ongoing program on the 60-in. telescope is a long-term study of singly ionized calcium lines to monitor sunspot cycles on nearby solar-type stars. The CHARA array will measure details of the surfaces of stars like the sun; the movements of double stars orbiting around each other and of planets orbiting distant stars; and planet formation around stars. The observatory, along with the Palomar Observatory (see under Palomar Mountain), was formerly part of the

Hale Observatories, which were jointly administered by the California Institute of Technology and the Carnegie Institution. In 1986 the Carnegie Institution transferred the observatory's management to the newly formed Mount Wilson Institute.

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Mount Wilson Observatory

Astronomical observatory located atop Mount Wilson, near Pasadena, California, U.S. Founded in 1904 by George Ellery Hale (1868–1938), it was operated jointly with Palomar Observatory as Hale Observatories (1948–80). Its largest optical telescope, with a diameter of 100 in. (2.5 m), enabled Edwin Hubble and his associates to discover evidence of an expanding universe and to estimate its size.

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Mount Wilson Observatory 

a scientific institution of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (USA). Located in California, 13 km north of Pasadena, it was founded in 1904 for the purpose of studying the sun. The work conducted at the observatory has played an outstanding role in the study of the sun, the stars, and the Milky Way Galaxy and other stellar systems.

The following instruments were first designed and used at the observatory for solar research: the tower telescope, the spectrohelioscope, the spectroheliograph, and the magnetograph. Among the observatory’s instruments are a horizontal telescope, two tower telescopes with focal lengths of 14.4 and 45.8 m and with spectroscopic equipment, a 257-cm reflector for spectroscopic and photometric work, a 152-cm reflector, and a 25-cm refractor. The principal areas of research are the sun and the physics of stars, nebulae, and extragalactic objects. In 1949, Mount Wilson Observatory was administratively merged with Palomar Observatory.