Astronomer George Ellery Hale built the Hale telescope between 1905 and 1908 after he acquired funding from Andrew Carnegie and the Carnegie Institution for Science in 1904. First used for observation on December 9, 1908, the telescope was the world’s largest functional telescope until the observatory’s 100-inch telescope was completed in 1918. Throughout the years, the Hale telescope has played a key role in several astronomic discoveries, including Harlow Shapley’s conclusion that the Sun does not lie at the center of the galaxy. Famous astronomers Edwin Hubble and Allan Sandage later employed the telescope for their planetary studies.
Today, the Hale telescope is the largest publicly available telescope in the world. With the telescope, both amateur and professional astronomers can experience magnified views of galaxies, nebulae, and planets.