1-152-392 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

200 inch Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory, California, at night, c1948. This was the world's largest telescope when completed in 1948, with a mirror 200 inches in diameter. It was named for George Ellery Hale (1868-1938), the American astronomer who was the driving force behind the costruction of the observatory and its massive telescope. Courtesy of Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories