Hale Solar Laboratory

Last updated

Hale Solar Laboratory
Hale Solar Laboratory 2008.jpg
The Hale Solar Laboratory entrance, with a bas relief by Lee Lawrie of the sun and its rays over the door, Pasadena, California
USA Los Angeles Metropolitan Area location map.svg
Red pog.svg
USA California location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location740 Holladay Drive,
Pasadena, California
Coordinates 34°7′58.63″N118°7′14.23″W / 34.1329528°N 118.1206194°W / 34.1329528; -118.1206194
Arealess than one acre
Built1923 (1923)
Architect Johnson, Kaufman & Coate
Architectural style Mission RevivalSpanish Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No. 86000103
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 23, 1986 [1]
Designated NHLDecember 20, 1989 [2]

The Hale Solar Laboratory is a historic astronomical observatory in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, United States. Built in 1923, it was the laboratory of astronomer George Ellery Hale (1868-1938), a pioneering figure in the development of the discipline of astrophysics in the United States. The building, a distinctive blend of Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival styles, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. [2]

Contents

Description

The Hale Solar Laboratory is located in a residential area on private property south of the campus of the California Institute of Technology, on the east side of Holladay Road between Lombardy and Orlando Roads. It is set well back from the street, down a narrow tree-lined lane. It is a roughly T-shaped concrete structure, with a tile roof. The stem of the T consists of the telescope tower and Hale's library/office and living area, while the top portion of the T historically housed electrical and ventilation equipment. The main entrance is at the base of the tower, set in an arch above which is an incised bas-relief tribute to Akhenaten, the Egyptian pharaoh who worshipped the sun god Aten. [3]

History

The observatory was designed by Reginald Davis Johnson (1882 - 1952), Gordon Kaufmann (1888–1949), and Roland Coate (1890-1958) and was completed in 1923. [4] The site's landscape master plan and gardens were designed by Beatrix Farrand.

After retiring as director at the Mount Wilson Observatory, George Ellery Hale built the Hale Solar Laboratory as his office and workshop, pursuing his interest in the sun. [5] [6] The observatory was where Hale refined the spectrohelioscope, making it possible to perform detailed observations of the surface of the Sun. Hale's other wide-ranging contributions to the sciences include the founding of the International Astronomical Union, the Astrophysical Journal , and instrumental contributions to the founding of the California Institute of Technology. [3]

Landmark

The Hale Solar Laboratory was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989. [2] [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of astrophysics and astronomy, established in 1895 by American astronomers George Ellery Hale and James Edward Keeler. The journal discontinued its print edition and became an electronic-only journal in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yerkes Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory in Wisconsin, USA

Yerkes Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States. The observatory was operated by the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics from its founding in 1897 to 2018. Ownership was transferred to the non-profit Yerkes Future Foundation (YFF) in May 2020, which began restoration and renovation of the historic building and grounds. Re-opening for public tours and programming began May 27, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Wilson Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California, USA

The Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) is an astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The MWO is located on Mount Wilson, a 1,740-meter (5,710-foot) peak in the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, northeast of Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seth Barnes Nicholson</span> American astronomer

Seth Barnes Nicholson was an American astronomer. He worked at the Lick observatory in California, and is known for discovering several moons of Jupiter in the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Astronomical Society</span> Society of professional astronomers based in Washington, DC

The American Astronomical Society is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the advancement of astronomy and closely related branches of science, while the secondary purpose includes enhancing astronomy education and providing a political voice for its members through lobbying and grassroots activities. Its current mission is to enhance and share humanity's scientific understanding of the universe as a diverse and inclusive astronomical community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrophysics</span> Subfield of astronomy

Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space–what they are, rather than where they are." Among the subjects studied are the Sun, other stars, galaxies, extrasolar planets, the interstellar medium and the cosmic microwave background. Emissions from these objects are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. Because astrophysics is a very broad subject, astrophysicists apply concepts and methods from many disciplines of physics, including classical mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Ellery Hale</span> American solar astronomer

George Ellery Hale was an American astrophysicist, best known for his discovery of magnetic fields in sunspots, and as the leader or key figure in the planning or construction of several world-leading telescopes; namely, the 40-inch refracting telescope at Yerkes Observatory, 60-inch Hale reflecting telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory, 100-inch Hooker reflecting telescope at Mount Wilson, and the 200-inch Hale reflecting telescope at Palomar Observatory. He played a key role in the foundation of the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research and the National Research Council, and in developing the California Institute of Technology into a leading research university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hale Telescope</span> Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California, USA

The Hale Telescope is a 200-inch (5.1 m), f/3.3 reflecting telescope at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, US, named after astronomer George Ellery Hale. With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1928, he orchestrated the planning, design, and construction of the observatory, but with the project ending up taking 20 years he did not live to see its commissioning. The Hale was groundbreaking for its time, with double the diameter of the second-largest telescope, and pioneered many new technologies in telescope mount design and in the design and fabrication of its large aluminum coated "honeycomb" low thermal expansion Pyrex mirror. It was completed in 1949 and is still in active use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stellafane</span> Observatory

The Stellafane Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Springfield, Vermont, founded in 1920 by Russell W. Porter. The Pink Clubhouse was built in 1923 at the site by the Springfield Telescope Makers Club. The name Stellafane, suggested by Porter at the club's December 1923 meeting, is derived from the Latin words stella and fanum meaning "Shrine to the Stars", and originally referred specifically to the clubhouse, but has since come to refer to all of the club's land and buildings on the summit of Breezy Hill, west of downtown Springfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Wilson (California)</span> Mountain in California, United States

Mount Wilson is a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains, located within the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County, California. With only minor topographical prominence the peak is not naturally noticeable from a distance, although it is easily identifiable due to the large number of antennas near its summit. It is a subsidiary peak of nearby San Gabriel Peak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodaikanal Solar Observatory</span> Observatory

The Kodaikanal Solar Observatory is a solar observatory owned and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. It is on the southern tip of the Palani Hills 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Kodaikanal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vassar College Observatory</span> United States historic place

The Vassar College Observatory is an astronomical observatory of the private Vassar College, located near the eastern edge of the Poughkeepsie, New York college's campus. Finished in 1865, it was the first building on the college's campus, older even than the Main Building, with which it shares the status of National Historic Landmark. The observatory's significance is due to its association with Maria Mitchell, the first widely known female astronomer in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory</span> United States historic place

The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory in Milton, Massachusetts is the foremost structure associated with the history of weather observations in the United States. Located atop Great Blue Hill about 10 miles south of Boston, Massachusetts, it is home to the oldest continuous weather record in North America, and was the location of the earliest kite soundings of the atmosphere in North America in the 1890s, as well as the development of the radiosonde in the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astronomical Observatory (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)</span> United States historic place

The University of Illinois Astronomical Observatory, located at 901 S. Mathews Avenue in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, was built in 1896, and was designed by Charles A. Gunn. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 6, 1986, and on December 20, 1989, was designated a National Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenwood Astrophysical Observatory</span>

The Kenwood Astrophysical Observatory was the personal observatory of George Ellery Hale, constructed by his father, William E. Hale, in 1890 at the family home in the Kenwood section of Chicago. It was here that the spectroheliograph, which Hale had invented while attending MIT, was first put to practical use; and it was here that Hale established the Astrophysical Journal. Kenwood's principal instrument was a twelve-inch refractor, which was used in conjunction with a Rowland grating as part of the spectroheliograph. Hale hired Ferdinand Ellerman as an assistant; years later, the two would work together again at the Mount Wilson Observatory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Pasadena, California</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Pasadena, California.

An active region is a temporary region in the Sun's atmosphere characterized by a strong and complex magnetic field. They are often associated with sunspots and are commonly the source of violent eruptions such as coronal mass ejections and solar flares. The number and location of active regions on the solar disk at any given time is dependent on the solar cycle.

John Wainwright Evans was an American solar astronomer born in New York City. He spent much of his career studying the sun and working with optics both of which earned him awards. The Evans Solar Facility at Sacramento Peak was named after him. Evans died in a murder–suicide with his wife in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferdinand Ellerman</span>

Ferdinand Ellerman was an American astronomer and photographer. He spent a good part of his career as an associate of the solar astronomer George E. Hale, and is known for his study of a phenomenon in the solar chromosphere later dubbed Ellerman bombs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snow Solar Telescope</span>

The Snow Solar Telescope is a solar telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory in California. It was originally named the Snow Horizontal Telescope as it uses a coelostat to deflect light from the Sun into a fixed horizontal shed where it can be studied. The telescope was funded by a donation from Helen E. Snow of Chicago in 1903. It was assembled at Yerkes Observatory then transferred to Mt. Wilson in 1905.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 "Hale Solar Laboratory". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 Harry Butowsky (May 1, 1989). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Hale Solar Observatory" (pdf). National Park Service.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying photos, exterior and interior, from 1926-1931.  (574 KB)
  4. Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Hale Solar Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
  5. "George Ellery Hale". Mount Wilson Observatory Association. Archived from the original on September 8, 2009. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
  6. "Hale Solar Laboratory". Astronomy and Astrophysics. U.S. National Park Service . Retrieved April 11, 2010.