PALOMAR MOUNTAIN OBSERVATORY

Location:    Palomar Mountain, California

Living and working in the "shadow" of Palomar Mountain has afforded me many trips to the Palomar Observatory.  The observatory is one of the most awesome places I have ever been.  Even if you are not an astronomer, you will still be awe inspired in the presence of the Hale Telescope.   These are just a few of the pictures from various visits and tours I have been lucky to have been a part of.  Enjoy!
 
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(click on the image for a larger version)

A terrific image of the telescope dome with the shutters open.
(photo not taken by me)

A stitched-image of the entire telescope.   At one time, this was the largest telescope in the world.  It is truly an impressive testament to human engineering!  The telescope is so big that you cannot photograph it in one shot (without special lenses).  We were attending an event in 2008 to watch the premier of the documentary "Journey to Palomar" while seated under the 200-inch telescope.  It was amazing to see the history of the observatory while sitting in the dome itself.
 
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This is me at the old console of the telescope.  This is where the "night assistant" would control the movement of the telescope throughout the night's observing run.

[Editor's Note: Holy moly these photos are 11 years apart... amazing how my hair now matches the paint color of the telescope ; )  ]

Today, the telescope is operated by a series of computers in a separate control room away from the telescope itself.
 
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This photo was taken during a luncheon to celebrate the 50th anniversary of "first light" for the telescope in 1948.   It was quite an experience eating lunch beneath the giant mirror support structure.   The temperature inside of the dome is maintained at the normal night-time temperature to optimize the operation of the telescope.  It was so cold inside the dome that warm canned sodas and water were simply placed out on a table but became as cold as if they were found in the depths of a refrigerator!
Paul Etzel (my former advisor from SDSU), me, and Jim Pesavento (my fellow astronomer at Palomar College) pose in front of the base of the RA drive.
 
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This is a close-up of the spectrograph attached to the cassigrain opening of the telescope.

 A view of the open slit from the inside of the dome.
 
My wife and I pose in front of the "Gray Lady". My wife at the front visitor's entrance to the dome.
   

The view from the catwalk that surrounds the observatory dome.  Straight off in the distance is Temecula.
   
My wife and I on the catwalk. The catwalk floor is see through (to keep snow/water from accumulating.  The view is a bit unnerving as you look 50 feet down to the ground.