National Museum of American History
Heliostat
Brashear, John A. · around 1900
A heliostat throws sunlight where it might be used for photography or scientific observations. This example (half of a two mirror instrument) has a silvered-glass octagonal mirror, clockwork mechanism, and tripod base with leveling screws. The “J. A. Brashear, Allegheny, Pa.” inscription refers to John A. Brashear who began making telescopes in 1880, in a shop behind his house in Pittsburgh, and who established a new shop in Allegheny, then a suburb of Pittsburgh, in the fall of 1886.
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