Telescope

Description:

The American military began using telescopes with stable mounts and tubes of fixed length in the 1890s, to supplement the spyglasses it had used since the Revolution and the field glasses (binoculars) it had used since the Civil War. This example is of that sort. It has an achromatic objective of 110 mm (about 4¼ inches) aperture, a turret with three terrestrial eyepieces, a sunshade, an alt-azimuth mount, and a wooden tripod. The tube is 51 inches long. The “Zeiss” signature refers to the important German optical firm that began in business in Jena in 1846. The “6366” on the prism housing, if it is a serial number, suggests a date of manufacture in the 1890s. The eyepiece turret is marked: “Orthoskop. Okular f = 40”.”

This instrument came to the Smithsonian from the U.S. Weather Bureau which had installed it on Tatoosh Island, off the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, and used it for spotting ships at sea. It may earlier have been used by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Ref: D. J. Warner, “Optical Elements of Fire Control, 1890-1921,” Rittenhouse 18 (2004): 21-59.

Date Made: ca 1900

Maker: Zeiss, Carl

Location: Currently not on view

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences, Astronomy, Science & Mathematics

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: U.S. Weather Bureau

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: PH.314578Accession Number: 204611Catalog Number: 314578

Object Name: telescope (refracting)telescope, refractingtelescope

Measurements: overall: 55 1/2 in x 59 in x 22 3/4 in; 140.97 cm x 149.86 cm x 57.785 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-b536-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_1433300

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