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For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. 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This is one of three original electroscopes used by the Austrian scientist Victor Hess during his balloon ascensions to measure ionizing radiation in the atmosphere in the period from 1911 to 1913. This instrument is a version of a commercial model of a Wulff electroscope especially modified by its manufacturer, Günther & Tegetmeyer (mfr. number 4760), to take into account operating under reduced pressure at high altitudes. Data collected by Hess led him to the conclusion that the radiation was of extra-terrestrial origin. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1936 for this discovery of what came to be known as cosmic rays. Hess immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 where he became a professor at Fordham University. The electroscope was donated to NASM by Fordham in 1990.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin Germany Type INSTRUMENTS-Scientific Manufacturer Günther & Tegetmeyer
 Dimensions 3-D (Overall): 25.4 × 14.3 × 14.6cm, 2.7kg (10 × 5 5/8 × 5 3/4 in., 6lb.)
 Materials Overall - metal, black finish, few markings. Wooden base
 Inventory Number A19910023000 Credit Line Gift of Fordham University Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
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