AAS 205th Meeting, 9-13 January 2005
Session 2 HAD Poster Session I
Poster, Sunday, January 9, 2005, 2:00-5:00pm, Sunrise

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[2.01] The Mount Wilson Optical Shop during the Second World War

P. Abrahams (Historical Astronomy Division, AAS)

During the Second World War, the Optical Shop of Mount Wilson Observatory, located in Pasadena, engaged in a variety of exacting and pioneering ventures in optical design and fabrication. Roof prisms for military optics were produced on a large scale, leading to the production of an instruction manual, for guidance in other workshops. Triple mirrors, or autocollimating corner cubes, were another precision part made in large numbers. Aerial photography was extensively developed. Test procedures for measuring resolution of lenses were researched. Various camera shutters and film sweep mechanisms were devised. The most significant work concerned Schmidt cameras, for possible use in night-time aerial photography. Variations included a solid Schmidt, and the Schmidt Cassegrain, which was fabricated for the first time at MWO. Key figures include Don Hendrix, Roger Hayward, Aden Meinel, and Walter Adams.


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© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.