Signedunsigned
Inscribedon metal label screwed to prism housing, but covered in green paint: TELESCOPE, ELBOW / M75C / STOCK NO. [???] / SERIAL NO. [???]
part no. cast into tailpiece holding eyepiece: C78175
part no. cast into prism housing: D43785
paper label on tube: C
paper label on tube, effaced and scratched off (blanks filled in by association with an intact sticker on another Apogee scope]: [SMIT]H[SONI]AN [INSTITUTION]
Historical AttributesThis 5-inch aperture Apogee telescope was widely used for satellite tracking by Project Moonwatch of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The telescope was was a modified Army M-17 elbow telescope with an aperture of 120mm, magnification of 20x, and field of view of 2.4°. Teams of volunteers, each armed with such a telescope backed up an optical network of 12 Baker-Nunn tracking cameras, which were put into operation in late 1957 and early 1958.
ProvenanceOak Ridge Observatory, Building # 16; transferred to CHSI, November 2014.