Science: The 82-Inch McDonald Telescope

Duration: 8:02

Year Published: 1939

Sound: silent

Description: This 1930s industrial film captures the construction and design of the first major telescope at the McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis. The Warner & Swasey Company of Cleveland, Ohio, which constructed the telescope, most likely produced the film. The McDonald Observatory was dedicated on May 5, 1939. Its telescope boasted an 82-inch mirror, making it the second largest in the world at the time. The telescope was renamed the Otto Struve Telescope in 1966 in honor of the observatory’s first director. It is still in use today. A research unit of the University of Texas at Austin, the McDonald Observatory is one of the world’s leading centers for astronomical research and teaching. Its facilities are located atop Mount Locke and Mount Fowles in the Davis Mountains of West Texas.