Telescope

Telescope

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Description
Alvan Clark & Sons was the leading telescope firm in the United States in the second half of the nineteenth century. Although famous for its large refractors suitable for advanced astronomical research, the firm also made smaller instruments for educational and amateur purposes. It remained in business until the 1950s.
This example has an achromatic objective of 3 inches aperture, and several eyepieces. The brass tube is 44 inches long and extends to 40 inches. The attached finder scope is 13 inches long. The “ALVAN CLARK & SONS / CAMBRIDGE, MASS.” inscription on the faceplate at the eye end was in use during the period 1939-1944. Charles Scovil, a dedicated amateur astronomer in Stamford, Conn., donated it to the Smithsonian in 1977.
Ref: Deborah Warner and Robert Ariail, Alvan Clark & Sons. Artists in Optics (Richmond, 1995).
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
telescope, refracting
date made
1939 - 1944
maker
Alvan Clark & Sons
place made
United States: Massachusetts, Cambridge
Measurements
overall: 9 in x 53 in x 11 3/4 in; 22.86 cm x 134.62 cm x 29.845 cm
ID Number
PH.336371
catalog number
336371
accession number
1977.0600
Credit Line
Charles Scovil
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
Science & Mathematics
Measuring & Mapping
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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