YERKES OBSERVATORY TOUR 2021 - World's Largest Refracting Telescope!

Рет қаралды 18,770

Күн бұрын

I had the chance to check out the WORLD'S LARGEST refracting telescope at the Yerkes Observatory! Come take a tour with me!
You can support the Yerkes Foundation here: www.yerkesobservatory.org/don...
You can support the OA on Patreon by clicking here:
/ theorbitalalliance
Twitter: @OrbitAllianceYT
Instagram: @TheOrbitalAlliance
Astrophotography Gear:
Sony A7III Mirrorless Camera Body
Sigma MC-11 Canon EF to Sony E mount converter
Sigma 150mm-600m Contemporary Lens
Orion Solar Filter for 8" Reflector
Pixel TW-283 S2 Wireless Remote Shutter
Manfrotto MVH500A Fluid Head with MVT502MT Tripod
Gear for Video:
Camera: Sony A7III & GoPro HERO 8 Black
Lens: Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 & Sigma 35mm f/1.4, Sony G 70-200m f/4
Audio: Focusrite Condenser Mic + Scarlett 2i2 & Rode Video Mic
Edited in Adobe Premiere
Audio Recorded in Adobe Audition
Screen-capture Software: OBS
Music licensed via EpidemicSound.com
Historical Image Credit: (WikiMedia Commons)
Yerkes Building: Author of article: Prof. Fredrick Starr, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Yerkes Telescope: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Einstein: Ferdinand Schmutzer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Chandrasekhar: Startchild Project NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Sagan: NASA/JPL, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Hale: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Hubble: Hubble ESA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kuiper: Gelderen, Hugo van / Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 NL , via Wikimedia Commons
Einstein at Yerkes: Photo Credit: Yerkes Observatory, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Chicago 1895: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Chicago Fire: The American Fine Art Co., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Chicago Fire: Unidentified photographer, printer or publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Crew:
Tyler Velasquez - Camera Operator
Ryan Pribyl - Sound Design and Mix

Nick Penev - Host/Camera Operator/Editor

Special Thanks:
Yerkes Observatory

Dennis Kois - Executive Director

Пікірлер: 74

@denofearthundertheeverlast5138 2 жыл бұрын

Just so everyone knows...The lens blanks were made in France by Mantios, and delivered to Alvan Clark & Son's for final grinding and polishing, So the telescope is an Alvan Clark & Sons telescope and it sits atop the giant Equatorial Mount made by Warner and Swasey.

@miscellaneousHandle 11 ай бұрын

I grew up with Yerkes literally in my back yard. I spent many Saturdays inside and around that building. A few of my school mate's parents worked there. In 5th grade, as part of a school outdoor program, I got to actually look thru the 40 incher. IIRC they had Jupiter lined up. This cemented my love of Astronomy

@TheOrbitalAlliance 11 ай бұрын

That's incredible! Thanks for sharing your story and for watching the video! Amazing how something so old and "out of date" can still leave such a positive lasting impression on us!

@Jerryman1980 Жыл бұрын

I went on a tour of Yerkes Observatory in 2013. One of the docents said Carl Sagan crashed the telescope into the wooden floor.

@TheOrbitalAlliance Жыл бұрын

NO WAY! What a story! 😅

@jenry2010 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for uploading your tour. From Philippines.

@TheOrbitalAlliance 10 ай бұрын

You're welcome, Jennifer! Thank you for watching from all the way around the world! Hello from the United States to our friends in the Philippines!

@J00Canu 2 жыл бұрын

Great video Nick, can't wait to see the next one! Really nice campus, hearing the history was very interesting

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Josh! And its so close to home!

@p.h.c.1113 2 жыл бұрын

We were just there today to check out the grounds. I knew it is closed to the public still, but was curious about it in general. It is about an hour from where we live, so worth the drive! We cannot WAIT to tour the inside of this place next year, hopefully. Thanks for this video!

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! The reopening this summer can't come soon enough!

@1kmg365 7 ай бұрын

What an amazing insight to the past but also to the future❤

@TheOrbitalAlliance 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching, Karen!! Highly recommended to go see it in person!

@dantyler6907 Жыл бұрын

Scopes migrated AWAY from lenses after this scope was finished and observers noted the final image had problems. The problems were attributed to the large lens deformity from its large mass. This heralded the world of mirror telescopes! Many no longer realize or understand how massive refractors heralded the logic of mirrors.

@jc4evur661 Күн бұрын

A scope so massive, yet only 40" in diameter, I can see why they shifted to mirrors.

@zoothorn99 2 жыл бұрын

Nice job Nick! Looks like a great visit next year.

@tylervelasquez5639 2 жыл бұрын

So good!! What an awesome place to be!

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

This guy is a champion who makes it all happen ^^^^^^^ Thanks Tyler!!

@theastronomydude2175 Жыл бұрын

Really nice tour of Yerkes. I hope to visit there soon, Busy here with my own astronomy work and outreach.

@russandjeanette 2 жыл бұрын

Cool video and history! Thank you for making it.

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for watching! Makes me happy to hear folks are enjoying it. Planning to do more videos like this one soon!

@JuliaHope1 Жыл бұрын

Such a great video! I remember going here as a kid and now I really want to go back for a tour!!

@TheOrbitalAlliance Жыл бұрын

That's for watching, Julia! I'm overdue for a visit since it reopened. It looks great from what I've seen on their social media pages!

@joehorecny7835 Жыл бұрын

Holy Moly! That is huge!

@TheOrbitalAlliance Жыл бұрын

The video doesn't do it justice! Its quite the rig!

@jaychitroda7573 Жыл бұрын

Awesome video brother... Thanks for giving us a tour of this wonderful place..... Wish to visit it Soon!!

@TheOrbitalAlliance Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much, Jay!! I really hope you do get to see it. Now that its reopened, it should look better than ever before! (And in much better shape than my video haha!)

@jeffjohnston4320 11 ай бұрын

Terrific video and very informative.

@laureenpenev4995 2 жыл бұрын

This was amazing! 👍😊

@Tyler_Owen23 2 жыл бұрын

Nice video man. 🤙🏼 you definitely deserve more subscribers with such high quality content.

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the kind words, Tyler! Glad you're here!

@EarlAUS 2 жыл бұрын

Couldn't agree more!

@bcrocks3935 Жыл бұрын

If they make it an F5 they could mount it on a trailer for a "travel scope". Great field of view!😆

@JenniferGBWhiting 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the fascinating tour! Very cool to have Yerkes so close to Chicagoland.

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching, Jennifer! Right! And here I am spending my whole life living this close but never having gone to see it!

@DblIre Жыл бұрын

Built there due to dark skies and rail service in 1890s.

@nathanrutz8738 2 жыл бұрын

So cool! Great vid Nick!

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks man!! Appreciate the watch, as always!

@kydawg1684 Жыл бұрын

One of my favorite places in the world right there. History oozing from every corner. Just awesome.

@TheOrbitalAlliance Жыл бұрын

Agreed! I'm due to go back soon! I want to see all the changes they've made in the past year and half.

@ryanwilson7543 2 жыл бұрын

Great video and insights. Looking forward to more content..

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much, Ryan! I'm grateful for your viewership!

@Music-Man189 2 жыл бұрын

Wow, awesome work!!!

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

Cheers, Greg! Thanks man!!

@roncolson7305 2 жыл бұрын

So…are we planning a field trip of Orbiters to go check the place out next year? Maybe get a chance to take a peek through the telescope? Nice job Nick! Kudos on working the pun in.

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

I'm in!! Let's do it! And I couldn't wait for your reaction to that astronomical pun :P

@markgreco1962 3 ай бұрын

Going tomorrow to view the eclipse

@deltacx1059 11 ай бұрын

Gotta love how stuck up a university would have to be to decide this observatory wasnt good enough, considering how much i can see through my homemade 131mm refractor im positive a refractor that big combined with the other scopes in that building there will be no shortage of usefulness, maybe not for cutting edge research but it is still a great tool for the new students to get the concepts down before wasting valuable time on someone elses scope.

@TheOrbitalAlliance 11 ай бұрын

Hahaha good point! it does make you wonder what conversations had to take place to make that decision to sell it, doesn't it? Pretty wild. My guess is it ultimately came down to cost. The school probably saw a lack of public interest and as the building/equipment aged beyond 100 years it just made more sense to cut their losses and stop paying for maintenance and upkeep. Which at the end of day sounds ridiculous because it is a wickedly cool historic building and scope that still functions! To be honest, the new organization that owns it has worked wonders to renovate and reinvigorate the observatory. Its the best its ever been. So in the end, it perhaps was the move that needed to happen for us to enjoy it for the next 100 years!

@deltacx1059 11 ай бұрын

@@TheOrbitalAlliance could have been a big bragging point for the university and they clearly are not gjort on money considering the tuition they charge.

@jc4evur661 Күн бұрын

The night skies in Wisconsin were never that great, especially as light pollution took over.

@radioparisment628 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Nick. I hope I come to the States for an observatories tour from France. Yerkes, Palomar, Lick, Flagstaff, Mount Lemmon... are so magic words for me !...

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

Hello! Thank you for watching all the way from France! I hope you have the chance to visit these observatories in the US soon! I would like to see those as well. Cheers and Merci beaucoup!

@paulgracey4697 2 жыл бұрын

I just cam across this video in 2022. I am a docent at the Mt. Wilson Observatory above Pasadena CA where George Ellery Hale built the second and third "worlds biggest telescopes" before starting work on his fourth and last at Mt. Palomar out side San Diego. In 2018 when I first got my Tesla I did a tour of the country with one stop at the Yerkes I had been talking about for years on my tours. As chance would have it I arrived less than a week before the doors were shut by the University of Chicago. They were boxing the books in that library that very day for storage. I saw that library in its fullness for its last time that day. Because I mentioned being associated with the Carnegie funded observatory at Mt. Wilson, I was given a special tour though not as special as yours. I would have loved to have seen underneath that observing floor as you did.You did miss saying that that floor was an elevator, and can rise to meet the eyepiece for observing the higher objects. The ladder like assembly is for smaller adjustments to the observer's position, by the way. Thanks to you I now know that, like the Mt. Wilson Observatory that I volunteer for, an organization has been formed separate from the original to raise money and bring the observatory back as the public educational museum it now seems destined to be. Our group at Mt.Wilson does not own the telescopes we are charged with maintaining, and the mountain is part of a National Monument today, so we have many regulatory hurdles to making improvements. I wish the new organization the best of good fortune in their efforts. It is heartening to see.

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Paul! Thanks for the nice comment! That's amazing that you got to see the library before it was disassembled. I didn't realize until after we shot there that the floor was an elevator. During editing, it all made sense to me when I read the control console in more detail. So cool! Hopefully I'll be able to go back and make a video show it being used in the near future. Thanks for watching! Cheers, from a fellow Tesla owner! :D

@TheSolarTutor 10 ай бұрын

How have you not done something at Mount Wilson? I bet they would love this kind of attention.

@TheOrbitalAlliance 10 ай бұрын

I haven't! Will consider that one for a future video though! next time I'm in LA!

@rbrtck 11 ай бұрын

Wait, didn't Edwin Hubble discover galaxies and the expansion of the universe at Mount Wilson rather than at Lowell? Or maybe the observations were initially made at Lowell, and Hubble heard about them, figured out what was going on with the help of the Hooker 100-inch telescope while working at Mount Wilson, and published his theories.

@DblIre 2 жыл бұрын

Van Allen, Kuiper, Hubble, Morgan, just a few of the famous astronomers who were at Yerkes. It's telescopes were used to help plot out the moon landing. I had the experience of looking through the main telescope twice as a child back in the 60s. The movie Chain Reaction was filmed there.

@TheOrbitalAlliance 2 жыл бұрын

That's amazing you had the chance to look through the scope! Perhaps pre-1960's renovations? Thanks for watching!

@meteoritesandsome8983 Жыл бұрын

Messier did alot of work there also. Late 1890s

@gerardgerard5681 Жыл бұрын

Been there. The drive needed to be fixed. SUSTAINABLE WHAT'S THAT.

@jonkauf4812 2 жыл бұрын

This video made me do a little Abed Nadir sized "fist pump". well done! Just give Nick the keys to the telescope already!!

@thimkful Жыл бұрын

I'd love to see Yerkes (also the 200" and 48" Schmidt at Palomar) just for the history. I wonder if they had problems finding artisans who could do the work.

@rbrtck 11 ай бұрын

What other glass elements are there "all throughout that scope" besides the two-element objective lens and the eyepiece or other instruments at the other end?

@TheOrbitalAlliance 11 ай бұрын

That's a question I'll definitely ask the next time I visit!

@rbrtck 11 ай бұрын

@@TheOrbitalAlliance I was thinking that there might have been some subaperture lens(es) for field flattening and/or maybe even chromatic aberration correction added later.

@manuelcartagena6962 4 ай бұрын

Estoy viendo una revista de 1920 "el cielo y la tierra.N* 10 en ella encuentras 3 fotos del Observatorio la princioal con refractor de 1 metro de diámetro foto oropia del obsevatorio.En la siguiente pagina otra foti tambien del observatirii en el montaje y una última foto de Boyer tambien del montaje de los blockes de sustentación.