Just about every telescope is an amazing scientific instrument — an “eye” on the universe. But some are much more: They’re works of art. An example is the Great Refractor, at Harvard College Observatory. It took its first peek at the heavens 175 years ago today. Astronomy was still a young American science then. But a brilliant comet had spurred interest in the field. Harvard took advantage to build a new telescope. It raised almost $26,000 from 94 donors, including former president John Quincy Adams. The telescope’s heart was a 15-inch primary lens — the largest in the United States for 20 years. It was housed in a 20-foot tube with a veneer of polished mahogany. Some of the fittings were made of brass. The combination made the telescope look like a sculpture as much as a scientific tool. The telescope first looked at the sky on the afternoon of June 24th, 1847 — a view of the gibbous Moon. At first, astronomers actually looked at the sky through the telescope. Later, they used it to
