The University of Chicago's historic Yerkes Observatory, one of the great astronomical institutions of the world, recently hosted Astronomy staff members for a behind-the-scenes tour. The observatory's Rich Dreiser, a longtime staff member and expert on Yerkes history, walked us through the familiar facilities and back rooms filled with past memories. Joining me were Managing Editor Dick McNally, Senior Editors Frank Reddy and Rich Talcott, and friend and Astronomy contributor Bob Miller, an engineer with the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Founded in 1897, Yerkes is, of course, most celebrated for its 40-inch refractor, the largest such scope in the world. The observatory could be characterized as one of the birthplaces of astrophysics — within its walls George Ellery Hale, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Edward E. Barnard, S. W. Burnham, George W. Ritchey, Walter S. Adams, Edwin B. Frost, and others worked, studied, and thought. Albert Einstein made a celebrated visit to the observatory in 1921. The observatory director is now Kyle M. Cudworth, who is widely known for his studies of star clusters.
Here's a brief photo gallery of images we would like to share from our day down at Williams Bay, a scant few dozen miles from Astronomy's home base.