***Images updated.***
Next week, you can check out the rich collection of astronomical instruments at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the telescope, the planetarium opens its a new exhibition, “Telescopes: Through the Looking Glass,” on May 22. The show spotlights technology used to gather information about our universe since Galileo’s day and includes hands-on interactive exhibits.
The trumpet-shaped telescope is a rare type with few surviving examples. Its distinctive feature is a front end that flares outward to the instrument’s objective lens. The Adler show will take you from the 1600s, when this beauty was made in Italy, to the reign of the Hubble Space Telescope, now being refurbished in orbit by a space shuttle crew.
Dating from around 1630, this beautiful Italian refracting telescope is the only early telescope found outside of Europe. Part of the Adler's world-famous Mensing Collection, this rare trumpet-shaped telescope's main tube tapers outward from the eyepiece. ©Adler Planetarium]
This 1977 pocket telescope, created by noted English craftsman Peter Dollond, is encased in tortoise shell inlaid with silver. The tubes are made of pasteboard with an interior surface that's matte black to reduce stray reflections. Red leather tooled in platinum covers the single draw, with the overall design based on leafy vines. ©Adler Planetarium
Owning a Dollond telescope carried a great deal of social weight. This elaborately decorated piece from 1843 is made of gold-plated sterling silver. The main tube shows raised scrollwork and foliate decoration, its case red Moroccan leather with elaborate gold tooling. A Turkish noble likely commissioned it. ©Adler Planetarium
William Herschel, a German musician turned astronomer, discovered Uranus in 1781 using a reflector identical to this 7-foot instrument made in 1788. Herschel's passion for astronomy led him to build the most powerful telescopes in the world. He also invented a mount that allowed the eyepiece to stay at the same level while the tube and mirror moved to locate celestial objects. ©Adler Planetarium