December 13, 2008
The night sky on your birthday is never quite the same twice — the planets shift, the constellations drift, the Moon wears a different phase.
The 60-inch Reflector
Birthday · December 13, 2008
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APOD published December 13, 2008. Credit: Wally Pacholka. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
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.
Image credit: Wally Pacholka