LONG BEFORE the Hub- ble Space Telescope was ever imagined, America was the leader in ground-based astronomy because of a mighty telescope in Southern California.

Known as Palomar Observatory, it was the dream of astronomer and visionary George Ellery Hale, who founded several other observatories and institutions.

In 1928, Hale secured a $6 million-dollar grant to build a 200-inch telescope that would eclipse his previous 100-inch telescope located on Mount Wilson. He selected a prime site for the new telescope on Palomar Mountain, at an elevation of more than a mile above sea level.

The construction of the 200-inch telescope mirror was an unprecedented technical challenge. First attempts at constructing it from fused quartz glass were costly and unsuccessful.

Eventually, Hale selected Corning Glass Works of New York, which used a new material called Pyrex to construct the huge mirror, but two attempts at casting it were required to finally achieve success.

In 1936, the mirror was transported by railroad from New York to California at speeds not exceeding 25 miles per hour during a 16-day trip that captured the public's attention at every stop.

During transport, the mirror was padded and protected with bulletproof panels. Luckily, no accidents or vandalism occurred during its cross-country journey.

Due to painstaking grinding, polishing, aligning and testing processes, as well as a three-year work interruption during World War II, more than a decade passed before the 200-inch mirror was ready for use.

Finally, in 1948, Palomar Observatory was dedicated, and even though George Hale had passed away 11 years earlier, the 200-inch telescope was named the Hale Telescope in his honor.

Palomar Observatory remained the largest astronomical observatory in the world for 45 years, while becoming an iconic symbol of American astronomy

. Although the Russians constructed a larger telescope in the 1970s, it suffered from several shortcomings and never performed as expected.

Only the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, in the mid-1990s, surpassed Palomar's size and effectiveness. Palomar today remains a major research instrument despite ever-encroaching light pollution from nearby communities.

Palomar Observatory was a revolutionary scientific and technological triumph for its time, thanks to George Hale's vision.