Palomar History Photo of the Week - November 30, 2009

Here is the first magazine cover that I know of with Palomar on it. It is from years ago, the December 1936 issue of The Sky (before the merger to form Sky & Telescope).


On the cover is a celluloid model of the 200-inch telescope that was used by Westinghouse to help model the stresses and strains of the design.

The model was later on display for the "last bolt" ceremony held at Westinghouse on April 30, 1937. Look for it in the photo below on the reviewing stand Attending the ceremonies were Caltech president Robert Milliken and Albert Einstein.


I hope that nobody minds that I squeezed in two pics for this Palomar History Photo of the Week.

Open?

FYI, the latest word is that the observatory may open today around noon. I am not on site, so updates will be limited.

Observatory Closed Saturday Nov 28

I just got word that Palomar Observatory will be closed to the public today, November 28, due to hazardous travel conditions. We are currently experiencing wind, fog, sleet & snow. The roads are not plowed and icy. It is not a good day to visit Palomar Mountain.

It's Full of Stars

The image above shows the globular star cluster known as M3. The cluster is made up of several hundred thousand stars. It is a member of our Milky Way Galaxy, located nearly 34,000 light years from our solar system.

This star cluster is located within the constellation of Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs. In 1764 the French comet hunter Charles Messier made it the third object, M3, of his now famous catalog.

M3 is thought to be about 180 light-years across, although half of the cluster's stars are located within its innermost 22 light years. M3 contains a relatively large number of "Blue Straggler" stars. These are stars that are bluer than most other stars within the cluster. They are thought to have had their outer layers stripped away by close encounters with other stars in the dense inner regions of the cluster.

This infrared image was taken by Tom Jarrett (Infrared Processing and Analysis Center / Spitzer Science Center / Caltech) using the Palomar Observatory's 200-inch Hale Telescope with its Wide-field Infrared Camera.

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!

It is Just a Phase

Yesterday's view of the nearly first quarter Moon hangs in the sky over the nearly first quarter dome of the Hale Telescope:


Click to embiggen, but notice that when you illuminate two round things from the side, they look sort of the same.

Observatories of the Southwest

Observatories of the Southwest: A Guide for Curious Skywatchers is a new book by Douglas Isabell and Stephen E. Strom.


The book profiles Palomar, Kitt Peak, Lowell, Whipple, Mt. Graham, Very Large Array, Sacramento Peak and McDonald Observatories. Each chapter includes sections on the history, research and public outreach for the observatory being profiled as well as an interview with an astronomer that uses that facility.

I just got a copy today, so I haven't taken a good look yet, but if my skimming through the chapter on Palomar Observatory is an indication of what the rest of the book is like than I would say that anyone interested in visiting any one or more of the observatories included would certainly enjoy reading this book.

The book is available through the University of Arizona Press and other outlets such as Amazon.

History Photo of the Week

With so many old photographs coming our way now it is time to start a new feature here at Palomar Skies -- Palomar History Photo of the Week.

That is a warning sign of the side of the building that would eventually house the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory. Perhaps it is a "sign" of what is to come in this new feature.

On the back of the original photo, which comes from the Family of Lee A. Farnsworth, Jr., was written "1 June, 1937 by Waterson".

Thanks go out to Observatory docent Richard for scanning this and many other images for us.

The Long and Winding Road

South Grade Road, seen above from the air in this vintage shot, is the road that was made to bring the 200-inch mirror up to Palomar Observatory. It's many turns make it a favorite choice for people who would unfortunately prefer to race up and down the mountain. This has unfortunately led to a number of deadly head-on collisions.

In an effort to improve safety on the road the County of San Diego will soon be installing center line rumble strips. This will hopefully prevent people from crossing over into oncoming traffic.

The rumble strips will be installed November 30 - December 14. There will be traffic delays, possibly as long as 30 minutes during these dates between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. So if you are planning a trip to Palomar, you might want to build some extra time into your schedule.

Thanks to the San Diego County and Chief Lucia of the Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department for helping to make this happen.

Dome Gear

Back in August I had a short post with some photos of the Palomar Day Crew performing some maintenance on the shutter rails for the dome of the 200-inch telescope. One of the guys doing the work took this cool picture that he was willing to share with the readers of Palomar Skies.


That "big" gear on the left is a part of the mechanism that opens the dome. From the perspective of the photographer it almost seems to rival the horseshoe in size, but then again he was right next to the gear and the horseshoe was very much in the background.

Thanks to Drew for sharing the photo.