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Astronomy In California 1850 – 1950:
Telescope Makers, Telescopes, and Artifacts
The Comet Seeker
By Henry Fitz (1808-1863), American Telescope Maker
Henry Fitz was America's first important commercial telescope maker. His success inspired Alvan Clark and John Brashear, whose optical works later dominated American optical astronomy and brought large American-made telescopes to California.
Henry Fitz's first telescope (made in 1839) was a reflector. In 1845 he won a gold medal from the American Institute for a 6-inch refractor he made.
This success attracted the attention of several astronomers and led to his manufacturing and selling telescopes to Vassar College, the University of Michigan, and Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York.
This “Comet Seeker,” designed to give a wide field of view at low power (optimal for the discovery of comets), is a testament to Henry Fitz's abilities. It has a very short focal length, a form technically challenging to construct. American telescope makers like Fitz, Clark, and Brashear enhanced their reputations by producing telescopes of this type. This beautiful instrument has an achromatic objective lens of 7 3/8 inches of clear aperture, with a focal length of about 62 inches and a very large eyepiece of the Huygens type. The overall dimensions are 60 1/2 inches long, with a 9-inch maximum diameter. The tube is mahogany, tapering from 7 1/2 inches outside diameter to 5 inches at the eyepiece end. Two internal diaphragms are located 36 inches and 49 inches behind the objective lens. The interior of the tube is painted black. The tailpiece and extension tube are brass. The tailpiece is signed: "H. Fitz NEW-YORK".
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