Major Winter Storm Headed Toward Palomar

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for Palomar Mountain from 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning until 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning. As such Palomar Observatory will be closed for at least this weekend.

Anyone considering travel to the mountains of southern California this weekend should carefully consider (or maybe reconsider) their plans. From the winter storm warning:

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE
WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT
AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS.
ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. SNOW...BLOWING SNOW...AND DENSE FOG
WILL CAUSE LOCAL VISIBILITY NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. TRAVELERS
THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR HAZARDOUS WINTER
WEATHER CONDITIONS. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO CHECK THE LATEST ROAD
REPORTS BEFORE DEPARTING. ALWAYS CARRY CHAINS AND TAKE EXTRA
FOOD AND CLOTHING IF YOU MUST TRAVEL INTO THE MOUNTAINS.
SNOWFALL WILL IMPACT TRAVEL ON INTERSTATE 8 THROUGH THE SAN
DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS. THIS WEATHER COULD BE DEADLY FOR
UNPREPARED CAMPERS OR HIKERS.

Palomar History Photo of the Week - Plowing Snow

More winter weather is due on Palomar Mountain this weekend and I am overdue in posting a History Photo of the Week, so let's combine the two with this photo:

It was taken February 9, 1939 by Lee A. Farnsworth, Jr as he took a break from plowing snow to capture his tractor with the dome of the 200-inch telescope in the background.

From the looks of the current National Weather Service forecast for Palomar Mountain, it is likely that history will repeat itself with snow plows again being called into action at the observatory this weekend. If that is the case, it is a good bet that the observatory will be closed to the public for the coming weekend (Feb 26 & 27).

Observatory Open

More winter weather may be bearing down on us this weekend, but the observatory is open to the public again today.

A Heavier Hale

The Hale Telescope is about 1 ton heavier today than it was yesterday. Extra weight was added to the top end to help it achieve balance when the new PALM-3000 adaptive optics system is installed in about 1 month.

This afternoon it was put through the paces with some extreme pointing to help make sure that it smoothly handles the extra weight. Early indications are that all is well. Here is a photo from today during the pointing exercise:

PALM-3000 will not be on the telescope all the time, so to compensate extra weight was also added to the Cassegrain cage. The weights are then removed when the PALM-3000 is not on the telescope.

PALM-3000 should allow the Hale Telescope to take the sharpest visible-light images of any telescope. Look for more posts on this in the future.

Still Closed

Just a quick note to let people know that the observatory is still closed to the public. Look here for an update saying that we are back open.

Shoveling Snow off of the Dome - Part 2

Some of you may remember my Shoveling Snow from the Dome post from April of last year. If not, feel free to follow the link to see some telephoto pictures of some of the Palomar crew shoveling snow off of the slit of the dome of the Hale Telescope.

F0r the last several months I have been cast in to a role that is more involved with the nightly operation of the telescope (that's why the number of blog posts have dropped dramatically) and today I had my first opportunity to shovel snow off of the top of the dome. I was able to bring a camera with me and can share some pics of from the experience.

The basic problem is this. If you open the dome with snow on the top, snow will fall in on the telescope and instrumentation. So a small crew, each secured with a safety harness, is sent up to remove the snow from the dome slit.

Here is a view of the top of the dome before any work was begun:


Here is a view of the work as it was nearing completion:

Notice that there is still quite a bit of snow on the dome, but the area that poses the greatest potential risk to the telescope has been pretty much cleared.

Here I am on top of the world:


Joining me on this quest was Greg:


Trust me, 135-feet would be a long way to fall, so having the safety harness secured is very important.


It is important to tune out the view, because it is so amazing, but I did manage to snap a few quick shots:

The photo above is looking roughly southward. You can see the little dome of the 18-inch Schmidt (center) and the much bigger (but much farther away) dome for the 60-inch telescope (right). You can also see the snow-filled Mendenhall Valley and the Crestline/Birch Hill ridge of Palomar Mountain (behind the 60-inch telescope at right).

This view is looking toward High Point. If you click to embiggen the photo you can easily see the High Point lookout tower. In the center is the dome of the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope. To the left is the observatory's 1,000,000-gallon water tank and the water tower.

Finally, check out this short video that I took of the view:

At Palomar Observatory every day is an adventure.

Observatory Closed

Palomar Observatory will be closed to the public today & Sunday due to winter weather conditions.

Globe At Night Returns

The 6th annual Globe At Night campaign to measure sky brightness around the world is about to begin.
From February 21st to March 6th you'll have the opportunity to measure sky brightness by counting the number of stars visible in the constellation of Orion. It is easy, fun & very worthwhile. So click on over and become a citizen scientist by measuring sky brightness where you live.

Winter Weather to Return this Week

It is time again to roll out the old photo of the dome and the weather gear to let people know that some rough weather is expected to head our way that will likely close the observatory to visitors in the coming days.

Rain, fog, wind, & snow are all in the forecast between tonight and Sunday night. In the coming days please pay close attention to weather forecasts (such as this Special Weather Statement issued by the National Weather Service) and any road or other closures before heading up to visit the observatory or the Palomar Mountain area.

Palomar History Photo of the Week - Building a Dome

Here is another photo taken in the 1940s by Lee A. Farnsworth, Jr. It shows the dome of Palomar's 48-inch Schmidt telescope (now called the Samuel Oschin Telescope) while it was under construction.

Good Times in Seattle

Thanks go out to the Seattle Astronomical Society (SAS) for having me up to speak last weekend at their annual banquet.

I think it was the only talk that I have ever given that had boats parked just outside the venue. Possibly they were there for me to make a quick escape if needed.


Fortunately the boats were not needed. The SAS took good care of me and everyone seemed to have a good time. They even had this sweet (in more ways than one) Palomar cake:

You can read a review of my talk here on Greg Scheiderer's nice Seattle Astronomy blog. Thanks for the nice words, Greg!

Open Again

Palomar Observatory is open again to the public with our regular 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. visiting hours.