At Mt. Wilson, scientists celebrate 100th birthday of the telescope that revealed the universe

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Wednesday marks the centennial of the 100-inch Hooker telescope. When it gathered its first light on Nov.1, 1917, it overtook its 60-inch neighbor and became the largest telescope in the world — a position it held for more than three decades.
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“In some ways, I consider Mt. Wilson Observatory to be the most important optical observatory in the history of astronomy,” said Alex Filippenko, a UC Berkeley astronomer who helped determine that this expansion is accelerating, driven by the existence of a mysterious force called dark energy.
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As Los Angeles grew and its city lights brightened, the telescope’s ability to probe the distant heavens dimmed.

Hale had long since moved on to a 200-inch telescope at Palomar Observatory in San Diego County. Funding was drifting to more modern telescopes in better locations.

In the 1980s, the money for Mt. Wilson finally dried up.
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