There were concerns the observatory wouldn’t live on after University of Chicago’s divestment of the property. Glad to see it’s got another chance at a long life.
Named for the great Chicago business scumbag, Charles Yerkes. Got out of prison in Pennsylvania and hobbled together Chicago's L train. The side of the street that he claimed the elevated railway was on would change building by building, based on which neighbors would or would not grant an easement. The folklore is this complicated zoning in the loop until Daley the Younger's mayoral tenure - in the 1980's
That's a bit of a relief actually. Every time I read Yerkes I think of the evil alien "Yeerks" from the animorphs scifi book series. Now I know it's a fine match.
Is it, in fact, larger than Lick Observatory's? I looked through that in 2003 or so.
> To her surprise, the telescope and its 60-foot-long metal tube were still balanced enough that they could be moved with just her hands. However, while the telescope was operational, it was difficult and stiff to move. Over the first month, Dr. Bauer had to determine whether the stiffness was due to a ground-down gear and figure out all the places the telescope needed to be greased and oiled.
I know Lick's can be moved by one person, by hand.
The key dimension for refracting astronomical telescopes is the diameter of the primary lens, which is 36 inches at Lick and 40 inches at Yerkes.
However, my understanding is that the Yerkes lens has suffered cracks around its perimeter and the telescope has been stopped down with baffles to mitigate the optical problems these cracks would otherwise cause, such that presently the Lick telescope has a larger clear aperture.
I've been fortunate to look through an eyepiece at Lick, it is pretty amazing to look at Jupiter (+ moons) and parts of the moon up close through such an instrument.
These old buildings always bring a smile to my face. Something about the style goes beyond the mundane and makes me want to think and do great things.
Strange that the list of Yerkes greats omitted S. Chandrasekhar. He was at Yerkes for over twenty years before moving to the main University of Chicago campus.
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[ 7.8 ms ] story [ 20.0 ms ] threadhttps://yerkesobservatory.org/learn/governance/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-yerkes-obser...
> To her surprise, the telescope and its 60-foot-long metal tube were still balanced enough that they could be moved with just her hands. However, while the telescope was operational, it was difficult and stiff to move. Over the first month, Dr. Bauer had to determine whether the stiffness was due to a ground-down gear and figure out all the places the telescope needed to be greased and oiled.
I know Lick's can be moved by one person, by hand.
However, my understanding is that the Yerkes lens has suffered cracks around its perimeter and the telescope has been stopped down with baffles to mitigate the optical problems these cracks would otherwise cause, such that presently the Lick telescope has a larger clear aperture.
I wish the floor had still worked though.
Strange that the list of Yerkes greats omitted S. Chandrasekhar. He was at Yerkes for over twenty years before moving to the main University of Chicago campus.