The Film & Video Archive of the McDonald Observatory - Telescope Mirror and Dedication Rodeo (1939)

Duration: 18:28

Year Published: 1939

Sound: silent

Description: This 1939 home movie captures the arrival and installation of the mirror used in the first major telescope at the McDonald Observatory as well as scenes from the facility’s dedication on May 5, 1939. Measuring 82 inches, the mirror made the telescope 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.