Samuel Oschin telescope, Schmidt camera telescope at Palomar Observatory, San Diego County, United States.
The Samuel Oschin telescope is a Schmidt-type camera on Palomar Mountain equipped with a 48-inch corrector lens and a large mirror designed for capturing wide views of the sky. The instrument uses specialized optics to photograph expansive regions of the night sky in a single exposure.
Construction began in 1939 and the telescope was completed in 1948, later renamed in 1986 to honor philanthropist Samuel Oschin. Its decades-long span of operation bridges mid-20th-century instrumentation with subsequent technological improvements.
The telescope archive maintains 19,000 photographic glass plates dating from 1949, representing decades of astronomical observations and scientific documentation.
The observatory sits on a high mountain providing dark skies suitable for observations throughout the year. Visitors should prepare for cooler temperatures, especially during evening observing hours.
Unlike typical telescopes, this instrument works exclusively as a camera without an eyepiece for visual viewing. This design enabled discoveries including the dwarf planet Eris and numerous supernovae across distant galaxies.
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