George Hale

Today is the birthday of astronomer George Ellery Hale, born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1868. Hale built four world-class observatories, including the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin and the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory in California. He fitted those observatories with the largest telescopes of the day, such as a 100-inch reflector scope at Mount Wilson. Hale was also a pioneering scientist who confirmed the mechanism behind sunspots. He was a true astrophysicist, applying the newest physics knowledge to explain astronomical observations, and he founded The Astrophysical Journal in 1894. Hale helped establish the American Astronomical Society and the National Research Council. In 1949, 11 years after Hale’s death, the Palomar Observatory in California unveiled its 200-inch Hale Telescope.

Date in History: 29 June 1868