January 26 

26 January 1949

Hale Telescope dome. Credit: Palomar/​Caltech

On January 26, 1949, the 200-inch (5.08 m) Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory, California, saw its first light. It was the largest telescope in the world from 1949 until the Soviet BTA-6 was built in 1976, and remained the largest effective until 1993. 

   The effort to build the 200-inch telescope, then the world’s largest, began twenty one years earlier in 1928 when George Ellery Hale (1868–1938) received a six million dollar from the Rockefeller Foundation for "the construction of an observatory, including a 200-inch reflecting telescope" to be administered by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), of which Hale was a founding member. Prior to Palomar Hale was the driving force behind the 40-inch refractor at the Yerkes Observatory and the 60-inch and 100-inch reflectors on Mt. Wilson, each of which was a leap forward for astronomy. The telescope’s design, construction and final calibration phases spanned the Great Depression and World War II.

   Construction of the observatory facilities and dome started in 1936, but because of interruptions caused by World War II, the telescope was not completed until 1948 when it was dedicated. The telescope saw first light on January 26, 1949, at 10:06 pm PST under the direction of Edwin Powell Hubble (1889–1953). His first target was NGC 2261, an object also known as Hubble's Variable Nebula. Other objects were photographed that night with the results published in the astronomical literature and in Collier’s magazine. Due to slight distortions of images, corrections were made to the telescope throughout 1949. It became available for research in 1950.

   The telescope is still in active use. It is equipped with modern optical and infrared array imagers, spectrographs, and an adaptive optics system.

The 200-inch Hale Telescope. Credit: Palomar/​Caltech

Hubble's Variable Nebula (NGC 2261) in the constellation Monoceros was the first official photograph taken through the 200-inch Hale Telescope. The exposure was made by Edwin Hubble from the prime focus observing cage on the night of January 26, 1949.Credit: Palomar/Caltech

Crab Nebula (M1) in visible light taken by the Hale Observatory optical telescope in 1959. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Quasar 3C 273 as imaged by the Hale Telescope in c. 1963. Credit: Palomar/Caltech

© 2026, Andrew Mirecki

26 January 1962

Photo of a scale model of a Ranger Block II spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Ranger III lunar probe, the first in the series of three Ranger Block II spacecraft, was launched on January 26, 1962. It carried a TV camera, a radiation detector, and a seismometer in a separate capsule slowed by a rocket motor and packaged to survive its low-speed impact on the Moon’s surface. Because of a malfunction in the Atlas rocket guidance system, the probe was inserted into a lunar transfer trajectory with excessive velocity and missed the Moon by 36,800 kilometers on January 28, 1962. Ranger III eventually entered heliocentric orbit.

Lift-off of an Atlas Agena B launch vehicle with Ranger III probe. Credit: NASA

Full Description from NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive:

Ranger 3 was designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to impacting on the Moon, to rough-land a seismometer capsule on the Moon, to collect gamma-ray data in flight, to study radar reflectivity of the lunar surface, and to continue testing of the Ranger program for development of lunar and interplanetary spacecraft. Due to a series of malfunctions the spacecraft missed the Moon.

Spacecraft and Subsystems

   Ranger 3 was the first of the so-called Block II Ranger designs. The basic vehicle was 3.1 m high and consisted of a lunar capsule covered with a balsawood impact-limiter, 65 cm in diameter, a mono-propellant mid-course motor, a 5080-pound thrust retrorocket, and a gold- and chrome-plated hexagonal base 1.5 m in diameter. A large high-gain dish antenna was attached to the base. Two wing-like solar panels (5.2 m across) were attached to the base and deployed early in the flight. Power was generated by 8680 solar cells contained in the solar panels which charged a 11.5 kg 1000 W-hour capacity AgZn launching and backup battery. Spacecraft control was provided by a solid-state computer and sequencer and an earth-controlled command system. Attitude control was provided by Sun and Earth sensors, gyroscopes, and pitch and roll jets. The telemetry system aboard the spacecraft consisted of two 960 MHz transmitters, one at 3 W power output and the other at 50 mW power output, the high-gain antenna, and an omni-directional antenna. White paint, gold and chrome plating, and a silvered plastic sheet encasing the retrorocket furnished thermal control. Total mass was 329.8 kg

   The experimental apparatus included: (1) a vidicon television camera, which employed a scan mechanism that yielded one complete frame in 10 s; (2) a gamma-ray spectrometer mounted on a 1.8 m boom; (3) a radar altimeter; and (4) a seismometer to be rough-landed on the lunar surface. The seismometer was encased in the lunar capsule along with an amplifier, a 50-milliwatt transmitter, voltage control, a turnstile antenna, and 6 silver-cadmium batteries capable of operating the lunar capsule transmitter for 30 days, all designed to land on the Moon at 130 to 160 km/hr (80 -100 mph). The radar altimeter would be used for reflectivity studies, but was also designed to initiate capsule separation and ignite the retro-rocket.

Mission Profile

   The mission was designed to boosted towards the Moon by an Atlas/Agena, undergo one mid-course correction, and impact the lunar surface. At the appropriate altitude the capsule was to separate and the retrorockets ignite to cushion the landing. A malfunction in the booster guidance system resulted in excessive spacecraft speed. Reversed command signals caused the spacecraft to pitch in the wrong direction and the TM antenna to lose earth acquisition, and mid-course correction was not possible. Finally a spurious signal during the terminal maneuver prevented transmission of useful TV pictures. Ranger 3 missed the Moon by approximately 36,800 km on 28 January and is now in a heliocentric orbit. Some useful engineering data were obtained from the flight.

Artist' impression of Ranger III traveling through space. Credit: NASA

© 2026, Andrew Mirecki

26 January 1978

Artist's impression of the International Ultraviolet Explorer. Credit: NASA

International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite, an ultraviolet astronomical observatory, was launched into a geosynchronous orbit on January 26, 1978. 

   IUE was a joint project of NASA, ESA and the United Kingdom. The observatory contained a Ritchey–Chrétien telescope with a 45-cm mirror for spectroscopy in the ultraviolet wavelength range from 1150 to 3250 Å. During its operation the satellite made observations of 9,600 astronomical sources from all classes of celestial objects and provided a Data Archive containing about 111,000 spectral files in the ultraviolet band. Among many other findings, IUE discovered the auroras in Jupiter, detected for the first time the halo in our galaxy, and measured the size of a black hole in the core of an active galaxy. It observed Halley's Comet, the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter and provided confirmation of the nature of the precursor star which exploded as supernova 1987A. The satellite was shut down on September 30, 1996.

Fully assembled IUE in a clean room at Goddard Space Flight Center, prior to shipment to Cape Canaveral for launch. Credit: NASA/GSFC

The history of IUE

The beginning of IUE goes back to the late 1960's and the success of the early astronomical satellites such as OAO-2 and Copernicus (OAO-3) in the US and TD-1 in Europe. Various studies were being pursued at NASA and within the European Space Research Organization (ESRO, the predecessor of ESA) for new astronomy satellites. One such study, for an Ultraviolet Astronomical Satellite (UVAS), was proposed by a team from the UK. This became the basis for a joint project among NASA, ESRO, and the UK's Science Research Council (SRC). Approval for the International Ultraviolet Explorer was won in 1971.

   The IUE satellite was launched on January 26,  1978, at 17:36:00 UTC aboard a Delta 2914 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It was placed initially in an eccentric transfer orbit, then the apogee boost motor was used to circularize the orbit. After this IUE was so close to its nominal station (i.e. longitude) that it was not necessary to use the jets move the spacecraft orbit. The spacecraft's mass was 644 kg at launch, 462 kg in orbit. Initial check-out of the hardware went smoothly. The first spectrum, of the calibration star Eta Ursae Majoris, was obtained on the third day. 

Liftoff of IUE spacecraft aboard Delta 2914 launch vehicle. Credit: NASA

   The spacecraft was then operated for 60 days under a Commissioning Period. Various high priority calibration and science observations were performed. For each spectrograph, there were prime and redundant cameras. It was quickly learned that the Short-Wavelength Redundant (SWR) camera was not functioning properly, and it was not used after the Commissioning Period. The SWP camera experienced significant microphonic noise, a major concern, until the source of the noise was found (the Panoramic Attitude Sensor, used for attitude determination after launch) and turned off. The LWP camera, in some ways better than the LWR, experienced sporadic scan errors, so the LWR was chosen as the default long-wavelength camera.

   The satellite had an expected lifetime of 3 years, with a  goal of 5 years, but exceeded that beyond anyone's wildest dreams. When it was shut down  on September 30, 1996, it had been in continuous operation for 18 years and 9 months.

   IUE was an international collaboration among three groups: NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the United Kingdom's Science and  Engineering Research  Council (SERC; now  Particle Physics and Astronomy Research  Council, or PPARC). NASA provided the launch,  spacecraft engineering support and software.  ESA provided the solar panels and a satellite  command station outside of Madrid, Spain, and  the UK provided the Vidicon cameras. Observing  time was split between two spacecraft command  stations. NASA operated the spacecraft for 16 hours a day from Goddard Space Flight Center, and VILSPA (the Villafranca satellite control station) operated it for 8 hours a day.

  IUE's geosynchronous orbit allowed for real-time operation, which made IUE very flexible. Astronomers came to the spacecraft command stations to direct their observations and inspect the data as they were collected, much as they do at ground-based observatories. Two on-board spectrographs covered ultraviolet wavelengths from 1200 to 3350 Å. The long-wavelength spectrograph operated in a wavelength range of 1850 to 3300 Å. The short-wavelength spectrograph operated in a wavelength range of 1150 to 2000 Å. Each spectrograph had two dispersion modes. High resolution employed an echelle grating and cross-disperser, giving roughly 0.2 Å resolution. Low resolution employed the cross-disperser grating alone, and yielded approximately 6 Å resolution.

   Observers from around the world took advantage of this workhorse observatory, gathering data from a wide variety of astronomical sources. Objects observed by IUE include virtually every type of object in the universe, from planets and stars to galaxies. One of IUE's strengths was the ability to rapidly respond to targets of opportunity such as comets, novae, and supernovae. IUE obtained the only ultraviolet data of the outburst of Supernova 1987a in the Large Magellanic Cloud. By tracking on the nucleus of fast-moving Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock, IUE was able to obtain the first detection of molecular sulfur in a comet. During July 1994, IUE (along with the rest of the globe) spent a good deal of time observing Jupiter when Comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with the planet.

   Astronomers study multiple wavelengths in order to learn more about the objects of the universe. Simultaneous data acquisition is essential in order to gain the most knowledge of certain transient events. Thus, very often IUE was used in conjunction with other telescopes from around the world. These collaborations have involved spacecraft such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the ROSAT, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Voyager probes, the Space Shuttle's ASTRO-1 and ASTRO-2 missions, the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer, Japan's ASCA satellite, as well as numerous ground-based observatories.  

Reduced Short Wavelength Spectrum of supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud from IUE

Reduced Long Wavelength Spectrum of supernova 1987A

© 2026, Andrew Mirecki

26 January 1983

Artist's impression of IRAS in orbit. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), the first space telescope to perform an all-sky survey at infrared wavelengths, was launched on January 26, 1983, at 02:17 UTC aboard a Delta 3910 launch vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. 

   IRAS was a joint project of the NASA, UK and the Netherlands. The satellite consisted of two main parts, the spacecraft and the telescope system. The overall dimensions of the satellite, with deployed solar panels, were: height 3.60 m, width 3.24 m, depth 2.05 m. It had a mass of 1075.9 kg. Its Ritchey–Chrétien telescope had a 57 cm aperture, with mirrors made of beryllium, and was cooled by contact with the superfluid helium to temperatures ranging from 2 to 5 K. An array of 62 detectors was used to survey more than 96% of the sky in the infrared flux in bands centered at 12, 25, 60, and 100 micrometers. 

   IRAS increased the number of cataloged astronomical sources by about 70%, detecting over 370,000 infrared sources. IRAS discoveries included a disk of dust grains around the star Vega, six new comets, four asteroids, and very strong infrared emission from interacting galaxies as well as wisps of warm dust called infrared cirrus which could be found in almost every direction of space. IRAS also revealed for the first time the core of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The mission of the observatory ended when the cryogenic helium supply was exhausted on November 22, 1983.

IRAS satellite during testing at the Fokker B.V plant in The Netherlands. Credit: NASA/JPL

U.S and Dutch technicians prepare the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) for launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: NASA/JPL

Delta 3910 launch vehicle with IRAS. Credit: 1369th audiovisual squadron of the US Air Force

Nearly the entire sky map, as seen in infrared wavelengths, assembled from six months of data from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This false-colour image of the region of sky around the constellation Orion was produced from data from the Infrared Astronomical Telescope (IRAS), and shows a much different view than that seen from optical telescopes. The intensity of the infrared radiation is represented by colours: red indicates strong 100-micron-wavelength radiation, and blue shows strong 12-micron-wavelength radiation. Well-known regions of star formation are apparent, such as the Orion molecular cloud (large feature dominating lower half of picture), located in and surrounding the sword of Orion. Part of the Milky Way crosses the upper left corner. Extended infrared cirrus clouds associated with the galaxy and the solar system are also seen throughout the image. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock, viewed in infrared light. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

© 2026, Andrew Mirecki

26 January 2000

The Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory. Credit: ESO

The 8.2-metre VLT UT3 (Melipal), one of four Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile, saw its first light on January 26, 2000.

   The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy operated since 1998 by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), located on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It is one of the world's most advanced optical telescopes, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2 metres in diameter and four movable 1.8 metres in diameter Auxiliary Telescopes. The telescopes are generally used separately but can work together, to form a giant interferometer, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to pick up much finer details of the cosmos than would be possible with the ATs or the UTs alone.

   The 8.2 m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The VLT is capable of observing both visible and infrared wavelengths. When all the telescopes are combined, the facility can achieve an angular resolution of approximately 0.002 arcsecond. In single telescope mode, the angular resolution is about 0.05 arcseconds.

VLT UT3 (Melipal) telescope dome. Credit: ESO

© 2026, Andrew Mirecki