John Briggs: Expanding Universe Conference (http://www.lowell.edu/workshops/slipher)

Title: A Forgotten Small Telescope that Inspired the Discovery of Galaxies

Abstract: A 6-inch Clark refractor was built in 1884 for the College of the Pacific.
A young classics instructor came to the College with no prior background in
astronomy, but left inspired to return to graduate school in astronomy at
University of Virgina. This was Heber D. Curtis, who became one of the great
astronomers of the 20th Century and famous for his early recognition of the
true nature of galaxies. Donald Osterbrock was aware of the telescope and
hoped to examine it at the University of Pacific, but it remained in obscure
storage for decades with a missing objective lens. The purported original
lens to this unusually beautiful and historic instrument has been discovered
in Texas and now has potential to be re-united with the surviving tube and
mounting.

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  Science & Technology