Caltech Photo by Robert J. Paz

Palomar Observatory Open House
was held on Saturday, June 25, 2005

Thousands flock to Palomar for Observatory Open House

For the first time in recent memory, or possibly ever, the observatory on Palomar Mountain just hosted an open house. Thousands of people made the drive up Palomar Mountain last Saturday to attend the event. Organizers estimate that over 4,000 people attended. For many it was their first close-up look at the famous 200-inch Hale Telescope, which for generations was the largest telescope on the planet.

Parking proved to be a difficult situation, but the observatory staff carefully guided drivers into hastily created spots on the observatory grounds. Others parked along the road up to a mile away and hiked in. The line to tour the Hale Telescope rapidly grew to epic proportions. Some people waited more than two hours for their tour. As the line grew the pace of tours was accelerated. Everyone that stayed in line was brought into the dome for a look around before the day ended.

In spite of the long lines, there was little grumbling and many positive reviews of the day. Among those who attended was a man that knew the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble. One family had a relative who helped to install the plumbing in the big dome. They brought with them a family photo album of treasured photos of its construction. Another visitor made this his first visit to Palomar. He spoke of his memories of seeing the giant mirror moved across the country decades ago.

In addition to tours of Palomar’s 60-inch telescope and the Palomar Testbed Interferometer, visitors were able to listen to astronomers from the California Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory give talks on a wide range of topics including future large telescopes and the hunt for killer asteroids. Visitors were also able to see 3-D images and animations of the Hale Telescope, learn about light pollution, and safely view the Sun through small telescopes provided by Oceanside Photo & Telescope.

Rounding out the day was an impressive display of fire trucks and information from the Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department, the Cleveland National Forest, the Palomar Mountain Fire Safe Council, and the California Department of Forestry who also managed to arrange a visit from Smokey Bear.

News Coverage of the Event: