Refurbished Flagstaff telescope reopens

• The Clark Telescope was commissioned for $20,000 in 1896.
• The telescope was crafted by Alvan G. Clark, a preeminent optician and telescope maker.
• The Clark's most popular subjects are Saturn, Jupiter and the moon.

It’s difficult enough to build a ship in a bottle. Imagine getting the ship out of the bottle, taking it apart, fixing it and getting it back inside that very tight space. Now imagine that instead of a ship, it's a 32-foot-tall, seven-ton telescope in a dome.

Ralph Nye faced such a task, and it wasn't just any telescope. It was the most technologically advanced of its time. But its time was more than a century ago.

Nye has overseen a 20-month, nearly $300,000 restoration of the Clark Telescope at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. The telescope was removed, disassembled, repaired, cleaned, painted and reassembled. Now it's back and as good as — if not better than — when it was manufactured in 1896. That's long before Pluto was known as a planet, let alone demoted to a dwarf planet.

The telescope and its refurbished dome will be unveiled to visitors Saturday, Sept. 5, but amateur astronomers (and those who merely want to peek at the heavens) must wait until Oct. 3 for a nighttime viewing through the scope.

Nye, the director of technical services who has worked at the observatory for 39 years, takes delight in nights when visitors line up for the Clark, patiently waiting for a peek into cloudless skies. One by one, people of all ages clambered up the steps and leaned forward to place an eye millimeters from the lens piece.

Each look is proceeded by “oohs” and “ahs,” especially when the Clark is trained on Saturn or a full moon.

Modern scopes beam images to video screens, but Nye knows there's nothing like seeing the planets with only millions of miles between them from the naked eye.

“It’s old-fashioned astronomy,” Nye said. “You expect to see a long-haired, bearded astronomer with notebook writing down data, like out of an old movie.”

After more than 118 years of uninterrupted service, the Clark was showing its age. From the peeling lead paint on its cast-iron barrel to the old-man creaks and groans issuing forth each time it was rotated, the scope needed some TLC.

Work commenced in early 2014 after a surprisingly successful fund-raising campaign. Nye was over the moon when told he had $291,000 to spend.

Nerves soon followed. Nye imagined the worst — damage to the fragile, one-of-a-kind 24-inch lens system comprising two exquisitely shaped pieces of glass secured inside a housing in such a way as to bring the heavens to our doorstep.

“One bump, a scratch, and the damage is done,” Nye said. “It was on my mind from the moment we started.”

With a 160-foot-tall crane parked outside, Nye and his crew gingerly removed the 230-pound cell containing the lenses. Just one problem. Based on the way the scope tilted, the lens didn’t fit through the slot in the dome, a problem corrected with saws and elbow grease.

Once the scope's three main sections were removed one by one, they were transported to an on-site warehouse where Nye and his team took the entire assembly apart bolt by bolt, screw by screw. Photos were taken every step of the way, because the telescope did not have assembly instructions (or they had been misplaced over the years).

When disassembly was complete, more than 1,500 parts were spread across the work area, Nye estimated. Depending on what each piece required, they were cleaned, repaired, greased, polished or painted. A handful were beyond repair, requiring replacements machined to exact specifications.

Crews also renovated the telescope’s dome. They replaced the nails holding the tin siding with roughly 1,500 screws (another Nye estimate). More than 1,000 nails were shot into pine planks and beam, reinforcing the structure. Fresh landscaping was planted, boosting the curb appeal.

The telescope then was reinserted in reverse order of the way it was removed. And now it's balanced better than a yoga instructor’s diet.

“To rotate it, all you need to do is give it a little push," Nye said. "Everything works perfectly. Better than new."

Commissioned in 1896 from noted optician and telescope maker Alvan G. Clark, the telescope cost  $20,000 when new. Today, Nye said, it’s worth $1 million or more, though he considers it priceless.

While much has changed since astronomer Percival Lowell first peered through the Clark Telescope to find evidence that would support his theory of intelligent life on Mars, our fascination with space has not, Nye said.

“Looking through such a powerful telescope to see Jupiter or the rings of Saturn, there’s no other experience like it,” he said.

Nye was even happier that the renovation finished without a hitch — and that, unlike Lego models and Ikea furniture, there were no leftover parts.

Clark Telescope returns

What: Lowell Observatory's historical Clark Telescope reopens to public after a 20-month refurbishment.

When: The telescope returns to the daytime tour schedule Saturday, Sept. 5. The first nighttime viewing is Saturday, Oct. 3 (weather permitting). Lowell Observatory is open 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays.

Where: 1400 W. Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff.

Admission: $12, $6 for ages 5-17, free for members and children younger than 5.

Details: 928-774-3358, lowell.edu.