Herschel Telescope on View in US

The 20-foot reflector telescope built by William Herschel in the 18th century to catalogue nebulae and star clusters is on loan to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The telescope, which usually resides at London’s National Maritime Museum, is the centerpiece of Explore the Universe, a new exhibition on how our understanding of the skies has evolved through the ages.

In addition to modern-day astronomical instruments, the displays include 900-year-old astrolabes, devices used to describe the night sky at a given time, a full-scale replica of Tycho Brahe’s equatorial armillary, and a replica of Edwin Hubble’s 1920s equipment from the Mount Wilson 100-inch observing chamber. As they leave the exhibition, visitors can explore a typical astronomer’s office with near-real-time access to the activities of national observatories. The new permanent exhibition opens this month. More information is available on the Web at http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/gal111/univ.htm .