Abstract
RECENTLY, the Carnegie Institution of Washington has catered in a practical way for the immense growth of public interest in astronomical research by opening a special building on Mt. Wilson to be devoted entirely to satisfying the layman's thirst for firsthand information on the many researches undertaken by the staff at Mt. Wilson and other astronomers. For many years, visitors have been privileged on one night per week to use the 60-in. telescope for visual observations of the heavenly bodies, but since the completion of the Angeles Crest highway about two years ago, the number of visitors has become a difficult problem. During 1936, it was estimated that 50,000 persons inspected the 100-in. telescope when it was open to the public, and the total number who visited the Observatory on all occasions during that year reached the large figure of 100,000. The main features of the building are, first, a room for the display of models and photographic transparencies and, second, a lecture-hall, capable of accommodating 270 persons, in which the general public are brought into direct and personal touch with the scientific staff of the Observatory. The Carnegie Institution and the Mt. Wilson astronomers are to be congratulated on their enlightened policy of giving to the public such unique facilities for the practical understanding of what scientific research is accomplishing in the realm of astronomy.
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Popular Astronomy at Mount Wilson Observatory. Nature 142, 108 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/142108a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/142108a0