Stellar Docents

Last Saturday night Palomar Observatory honored our docents who have given exceptional levels of service.


They help tell the observatory's story through tours and many other ways. I am very glad to have them around.

Fred Givant: 1943 - 2009

I have the sad task of announcing that Fred Givant, one of the Palomar Observatory’s docents, passed away on Sunday June 28.

We only had the pleasure of knowing Fred for just a year and a half, but he certainly left his mark on the outreach program. Fred felt passionately about the observatory and especially the need to educate young people about science. He backed up that passion with frequent visits to the observatory to help with our public outreach program.

In spite of the fact that Fred had a fulltime job (working as a risk manager for a company building the next generation of GPS satellites) he was very committed to making the trek to Palomar Mountain to volunteer much of his limited free time. It has been a record-breaking year for tours at the observatory and Fred was a big part of that. He was volunteering here three of the four weekends in June and four of the five in May!

The staff and docents of the observatory will miss Fred’s enthusiasm and dedication.

A memorial service for Fred will be held on July 10 at the Miller-Jones Mortuary in Sun City, CA. Fred’s wife Carole has asked that instead of flowers donations be made to Palomar Observatory.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can send it to:

Palomar Observatory
Fred Givant Fund
P.O. Box 200
Palomar Mountain, CA 92060

100% of the donations to the fund will be used to help kids to learn about astronomy. Fred would have wanted it that way.

Here's a docent group photo from last year. Fred is second from the left.

Tour the Hale

Our weekend tours of the Hale Telescope begin again in one week.

Taking one of these tours gives you an inside look at 200-inch telescope. The tours take about an hour and explain how the telescope was built, how works, who uses it & more. This is your chance to see the Big Eye in person.

These tours are held on Saturdays & Sundays during the months of April through October. Tour tickets are sold in the observatory gift shop the day of the tour on a first-come, first-served basis. No prior reservations are taken. Tour times are 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tour tickets are $5.00. The tour is not recommended for children under six years of age.

Remember that the dome is kept at nighttime temperatures. It is best to bring a warm layer or two, especially in early spring.

Many of these tours are led by our volunteer docents. We are always in the market for more people who want to help tell Palomar's incredible stories. Are you interested in joining the team?

Under Palomar Skies

Under crystal-clear Palomar Skies the Friends of Palomar Observatory held its first star party for its membership last Saturday night. Here are a few shots from the evening.

This one is looking south towards the dome of the 200-inch telescope and the summer Milky Way. While the professionals were observing supernova remnants the small crowd gathered for the star party saw the Moon, Jupiter, a passage of the International Space Station, the Ring Nebula, numerous star clusters, the Whirlpool Galaxy, and more all thanks to the observatory docents who ran the show.

Here is the view to the north with the Big Dipper just above the sky glow caused by the lights of Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles Counties.

This last shot is time-lapse showing an observatory docent and a staff member playing with a light-up frisbee. A good time was had by all.

Five Years and Counting

As of today I have been at Caltech's Palomar Observatory for five years. It continues to be a pleasure and an honor to work at this fine institution with its remarkable, dedicated staff. The observatory has a distinguished history and a promising future of exploration and I am happy to be able to help bring the Palomar story to many people.

Helping me to bring Palomar to the people are a great group of volunteers, the Palomar Observatory Docents (or PODs as I call them). Many of our active docents are shown in this recent group photo.


The PODs are a dedicated and wonderful group of people who have become part of the Palomar family by helping in our public outreach program in a variety of ways, including giving tours of the Hale Telescope.

We are always looking for more people who might be interested in helping out, especially as we are about to enter into our new tour season with docent-led tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope given twice daily on Saturdays (11:30 am & 1:30 pm) from April through October.

Potential docents don't need to be an astronomer or a Palomar expert to apply. A willingness to learn and an interest in speaking to people is all that is needed. More information can be found here.