Mt. Palomar Observatory

I got a last-minute call from a friend on Sunday asking if I wanted to join his family at the Mt. Palomar Observatory. It was a perfect day for a Sunday drive, so I grabbed my camera and took off in the Xterra. 


The Observatory is owned by California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The dome housing the 200-inch telescope was built in 1936. It took several years just to fabricate the 200-inch mirror. We were able to get on a tour that took us inside the dome, and also allowed us to walk around the catwalk you can see on the outside about 35 feet up, right below the start of the dome portion of the structure.

Once inside we got a good look at the 200-inch Hale Telescope. The actual telescope is the part that is pointed straight up. The rest is the supporting mechanism.

The views from the little open-grate steel walkway were pretty good, especially with the fluffy clouds.

The view straight down was interesting as well.

We finished up our afternoon in the San Diego County backcountry with some fresh pie at the Julian Pie Company bakery in Santa Ysabel.


Click here to see more images from my visit to the Mt. Palomar Observatory.