Abstract
NEWS has recently been received from the Corning Glass Co. that it has been successful in the third attempt to make a Pyrex disk for the 74-in. reflector of the new Radcliffe Observatory, Pretoria. The glass is now being shipped to Newcastle, where grinding and polishing will be commenced immediately by Sir Howard Grubb, Parsons and Co. Meanwhile, work on the site at Pretoria is proceeding satisfactorily, and erection of the turret and the telescope mounting should be completed by the end of this month. The turret steelwork is all assembled, including the shutters, and the outer sheeting has been fixed in position. The telescope itself is practically entirely erected, despite some difficulty which was encountered in procuring lifting tackle sufficient for handling the heavier parts, especially for the polar axis, which when fitted with its circles, etc., weighs 16 tons. The tasks now remaining are concerned chiefly with the electrical equipment. Subsidiary apparatus, all of new design, is still under construction in Great Britain. A measuring machine for spectrograms has been finished and has passed thorough tests, a micro-photometer is near completion, and work is in active progress on a Cassegrain spectrograph. Dr. T. Dunham, jun., of the Mount Wilson Observatory, is preparing plans in conjunction with the Radcliffe staff for a large spectrograph of very advanced design, which it is hoped will be installed at the coudé focus very soon after the new reflector comes into operation.
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Radcliffe Observatory, Pretoria. Nature 142, 424–425 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/142424c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/142424c0