Celebrate Your Independence with a Tour of the Hale Telescope

To celebrate Independence Day our regular program of weekend tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope will be extended to include tours on Monday, July 4th.


The Hale Telescope is an icon of American science, so why not come up and see it for the 4th.

Palomar in a Vintage Escondido Travel Brochure

PALM-3000, the world's best adaptive optics instrument, is currently on the Hale Telescope, but instead of talking about that, I am going to share a bit of Palomar history.

Below are scans from a 1951 brochure put out by the Escondido Chamber of Commerce.


You are going to want to click on the image below to view the inside of the brochure which was written by David O. Woodbury. Some of you may recall that Woodbury was the author The Glass Giant of Palomar, one of the first books to tell the story of the 200-inch telescope. The details described inside are pretty much spot on, but the one odd thing is the diagram that shows off the path of light through the telescope. There are several places where light can be focused and the illustration shows the just one of the three -- coudé focus.


The back cover of the brochure shows the location of Escondido and how to get to the observatory via The Highway to the Stars.

Alas, The Highway to the Stars signs that once marked the roadway are now long gone. The observatory now sells a reproduction of the sign on one of our t-shirts, but here is how they looked:

Memorial Day Tours on Palomar

I don't know that you will be able to see flags and firetrucks, but it is Memorial Day weekend and we are celebrating by extending our public tours past the usual ones heldon Saturdays & Sundays to include Monday, May 30 as well. Tours will be at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tours are $8 per person. More information on the tours can be found here.

North County News Visits Palomar Observatory

On Saturdays & Sundays guided tours of the Hale Telescope take place 3 times daily. North County News was up recently to see the action. Here is their video:

The public tours do not go into the control room, but they do get rave reviews. If you are going to be in the area, why come on over for a visit?

No Tours This Coming Sunday

Alas, we will be unable to offer our guided tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope on Sunday, April 17.

Tours for Saturday, April 16 (held at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. & 2:30 p.m.) will be held as scheduled. More information on our program of public tours can be found here on the observatory's website.

Hale Telescope Guided Tours Return This Weekend!

Can you spot the people on the catwalk? Click the image to enlarge.
Read on to see how you can get there too.

Guided tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope return this weekend. The hour-long tours are given on Saturdays and Sundays from April through October at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tickets are sold in the Palomar Observatory Gift Shop on a first-come, first-served basis.

The tours explain how the telescope works, its history, research and (weather permitting) includes a visit to the outside catwalk. More details on the tours can be found here.

Black Friday Tours Return

It is the holiday season and we are celebrating by offering special daytime tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), Friday November 26.


Our regular public tours do not resume again until April, so this may be your last chance to get a guided tour of the Big Eye for some months.

Tour tickets will be sold in the gift shop the day of the tour on a first-come, first-served basis. No prior reservations are taken. Tour tickets are $8.00. The tours are not recommended for children under six years of age.

Do keep in mind that it is COLD inside the dome. Temperatures inside, where the hour-long tours take place, are expected to be around 40F. So bundle up!

Hale Telescope Tours Continue on Weekends in September & October

Most of the time when people visit Palomar Observatory they can only see the Hale Telescope from the Visitors Gallery (shown above). If you visit on a weekend through the end of October you can get on the other side for a guided tour.

Tours are offered at 11:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m. & 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $8.00 per person for all ages. Tour tickets are sold in the gift shop the day of the tour on a first-come, first-served basis. The gift shop opens at 10:00 a.m. No prior reservations are taken. The tour is not recommended for children under six years of age. Sorry, no pets.

Tours cover the history and current scientific research of the Palomar Observatory, with a special emphasis on the 200-inch Hale Telescope. Remember it can be pretty cool in the dome as the interior is kept at nighttime temperatures (for an elevation of 5,500 feet). High-heeled shoes are not recommended for the tours.

These one-hour-long tours are held on Saturdays & Sundays only now through the end of October.

Hoaxes, Tours, Galileoscopes & More!

There is a lot to catch up on, but for now I'll post a few quick links to some things.

First up, it is August, so that means it is time for the Mars Hoax to rear its ugly head once again. NASA has just put out a story on it. This is the kind of thing that gets people excited about astronomy (a good thing), but then dashes their hopes (a bad thing). This year Mars will not be visible in the sky at all and will be about as far from Earth as it can get--making the story about as untrue as it can possibly be.

Don't forget that Julian Starfest takes place later this week. It should be a fun event and there is a free public star party taking place there Saturday, August 7th.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hosting a 7th grade science teacher from Boston as she makes the trek to 12 observatories of the southwestern U.S. She is blogging about it, so go on over to check it out.

The photo at the top of this post was from earlier today, as a group of students from UCSD's COSMOS program got a tour of the 200-inch Hale Telescope. Don't forget that you can go on your own tour of the Hale on Saturdays & Sundays through October. Click here for the details.

Speaking of tours, for the last year or so we have been giving out one Galileoscope on each tour. Over 300 were given out. Many of the galileoscopes were given out in the memory of one of our docents, Fred Givant. Last weekend we gave out our last one. I'd like to take this moment to remember Fred and to thank the people who helped continue the program in his memory.

Fred, we still miss your enthusiasm and your dedication to public outreach.

Winter Weather Returns

UPDATE: Palomar Observatory is closed to the public today due to the hazardous winter weather conditions.

Be careful out there. Palomar Mountain is currently under a Winter Weather Advisory. Fog, wind, snow and icy roads are expected though at least Thursday morning. Travel to the San Diego mountains is not recommended at this time. If you are planning a trip to the observatory, it might be a good time to put it off for a while.


No word yet if this will affect our weekend tours. I'll post an update later in the week.

Speaking of our tours, here is a nice review of them.

Guided Tours Return

It is almost April. That means that guided tours of the Hale Telescope will soon be here. Weather permitting, they should begin this weekend. Do keep in mind that we are expecting snow on Palomar tonight & Thursday. There is always a chance that the weather could intervene with the tours. I will post an update on the weather & tour status here later in the week.

One thing for sure is that it will likely be in the 30s inside the dome as the interior of the 200-inch dome is kept at nighttime temperatures (for an elevation of 5,500 feet!). Dress accordingly.

These one-hour-long tours are held on Saturdays & Sundays only during the months of April through October. Tour tickets are sold in the gift shop the day of the tour on a first-come, first-served basis. The gift shop opens at 10:00 a.m. No prior reservations are taken.

Tours are offered at 11:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m. & 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $8.00 per person for all ages. The tour is not recommended for children under six years of age. Sorry, no pets.

Tours cover the history and current scientific research of the Palomar Observatory, with a special emphasis on the 200-inch Hale Telescope. High-heeled shoes are not recommended for the tours.

Alas, there is no viewing through the Hale Telescope as a part of the tours. Even the astronomers do not look through the telescope. That isn't the way research is done.

Black Friday Tours at Palomar

As an added holiday bonus we'll be offering guided public tours of the Hale Telescope on Friday November 27 at 11:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.


Our regular public tours do not resume again until April, so this may be your last chance to get a guided tour for some months.

Tour tickets are sold in the gift shop the day of the tour on a first-come, first-served basis. No prior reservations are taken. Tour tickets are $5.00. The tour is not recommended for children under six years of age.

Do keep in mind that it is COLD inside the dome. Temperatures inside, where the hour-long tour takes place, are expected to be in the mid 40s. Bundle up!

Last Tours of the Season

This weekend (Oct. 31 & Nov. 1) will be the last Hale Telescope public tours of the season. If you have been putting off coming for one of the tours this will be your last chance until they resume in April.

The temperature inside the dome is running about 40 degrees right now and will likely stay in the 40s for the weekend. So if you attend, be sure to bring a warm layer (or two)!

The tours will be held at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., & 2:30 p.m.

No Tours on Sunday

Sorry, Gang. We will be unable to offer public tours of the Hale Telescope on Sunday, October 4th.

Regular public tours on Saturdays & Sundays should continue at 11:30, 1:30 & 2:30 through November 1st though.

Ride the Dome

Here's some video that was posted to YouTube by someone who attended one of our recent evening tours run through the Ruben H. Fleet Space Center. You can see part of the tour from the observing floor under the Hale Telescope and experience the thrill of riding the big dome during a rotation.



We have only one more of these tours for the season and I think that it is already sold out.

4 Years Ago Today

Four years ago today, June 25 2005, was our Palomar Observatory Open House. An estimated 4,000 people came to visit Palomar Observatory in just one day.

The lines were epic.



It was immensely gratifying to see so many people know that there are so many people that are interested in the observatory and astronomy. As you might imagine, we are a bit hesitant to hold another such event, as it completely overwhelmed our resources (especially with regard to parking and bathrooms).

Instead we now have a regular program of public tours on Saturdays and Sundays. This makes the situation easier for everyone involved and we still have thousands of visitors each year that get to experience a tour of the Hale Telescope.

Be Careful Out There

The heat of a warm day, contrasted with the cool air inside the dome and our altitude (5,500 feet above sea level) can really hit some people hard. In just the last week we have had 2 people attending tours at the observatory that have needed medical attention.

If you are planning on heading up for a tour, please make sure that you have had a meal and water before your visit and that you are easily able to handle an hour's worth of walking and standing.

We are glad to have the members of the Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department close at hand, but prefer not having to call them over.

Palomar Observatory in Sunday's Newspaper

There was a nice article by Beth Wood on visiting the observatory & taking tours in Sunday's San Diego Union Tribune. Check it out: Skies just part of the prize from trip to observatory.