* Astronomy

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Vintage telescopes

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Adler Planetarium telescope exhibit will be nation's largest display of very early instruments
Beginning Friday the Adler will show off the largest collection of very early telescopes ever assembled for public display in the U.S. They are part of the Adler's temporary exhibit, "Telescopes: Through the Looking Glass," that runs through Dec. 31 as a bow to astronomy's 400th birthday during the United Nations' "International Year of Astronomy."

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A new exhibition celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Telescope has opened at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford. The English Telescope from Newton to Herschel tells the story of the important developments to the telescope made in England during the 18th-century.
The exhibition concentrates on the most prolific period of English endeavour in the development of the telescope, which is neatly book-ended by two major figures in the history of astronomy; Sir Isaac Newton (1642 1727) and William Herschel (1738 1822). Before this work, it was difficult to get a sharp image from the refracting telescopes like those used by Galileo, and the only way of combating this was for the telescope tube to be very long. One of the biggest developments in the 18th-century was the invention and improvement of the reflecting telescope and the achromatic lens, which enabled telescopes to be made much shorter.

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Vintage telescope offers view of abbey's astronomy past
Fifty years ago, on moonless nights atop a hill overlooking farmland, the scholarly monk would gaze heavenward. Through the shining brass telescope, he would observe the glittering work of the Almighty and silently give thanks, plus take a few scientific notes.
The facts surrounding the late Benedictine Father Matthias Burger and the telescopes of Mount Angel Abbey remain somewhat cloudy. Whats clear is that in the 1940s or early 1950s, he obtained an instrument that is now a collectors item. He also built several telescopes as lens technology advanced.
The optical tools, unused for decades, are being sold off this summer. The abbey hopes they will go into more appreciating hands, now that Father Matthias has been dead for six years.

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