Electrical features of the 200-inch telescope

BRIEFLY, the function of the Palomar Mountain 200-inch telescope is to collect light from celestial objects and concentrate it at the prime focus, or, by a series of additional reflections from auxiliary mirrors, bring the light to other focal points both on and off the telescope. The major advantages of the 200-inch telescope over other large telescopes are: (1) its considerably larger light-gathering capacity, permitting reduction in time of exposures and the photographing of more distant objects; (2) its design, permitting astronomical work directly on the telescope at the prime focus, thus avoiding the loss of light through additional reflections: (3) its flexibility by remotely operated auxiliary mirror combinations; and (4) its automatically corrected drive and setting controls.