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For many astronomy enthusiasts growing up in the 1940s through the early 1990s, the 200″ Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory, located just north of San Diego, California, represented the crème de la crème of astronomical telescopes.  Since my early childhood, I would always see photos of this magnificent piece of optical and mechanical engineering marvel throughout my astronomy books.  I always wished that someday I would get the chance to see this telescope in person. Little did I realize that the Hale Telescope was practically in my own backyard - only a 2.5 hour drive south from Los Angeles.  Fast forward to 2008.  Now as an adult, the chance of a lifetime to see the 200″ Hale Telescope was about to come true thanks to Scott Kardel, Public Affairs Coordinator with Palomar Observatory. 

My observing buddies - John McFee of the Doobie Brothers and Carlos Rios of Stevie Nicks’ band, accompanied me on our journey to Palomar.  Like me, they too, grew up in awe of “the telescope of all telescopes” and would be fulfilling their boyhood dreams as well.  After a short visit to the Eagle Gold Mine and a quick stop for some apple pie in the historic town of Julian, we were on our way up the winding road to Palomar Mountain.  Located at an elevation of 5,600 feet above sea level, the massive white observatory dome is high enough to be above most of the marine layer and light pollution, although skyglow is always a growing concern.  The Palomar Observatory is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology, where astronomical research is conducted throughout most of the year by professional astronomers, reseachers, post-doctoral graduates and nongraduate students.  We met up with Scott Kardel and Palomar Docent, Jim Mettler, and after introductions and a storied history lesson, we entered into the most sacred grounds of the Palomar Observatory. 

To our surprise, we were greeted by massive steel foundations which anchored the telescope’s support structures instead of the huge telescope itself.  We quickly learned that the telescope was actually a couple of levels above us, as we had entered the dome from the ground level.  A quick elevator ride up brought us to a dimly lit corridor which led us to the main floor of the observatory.  As we entered the room, a darken silhouetted image of the telescope was barely visible.  Inside the dome is kept dark and must always have a set temperature to alleviate any heat buildup.  With one turn of a switch, a few lights came on, and there it was - the 200″ Hale Telescope in all its glory!  It looked exactly like the pictures showed from all my astronomy books, but of course, the telescope was much more impressive and massive looking in person.  As Scott and Jim looked on, Carlos, John and I were just gasping in amazement while looking at the telescope’s infamous arms and horseshoe.  The experience was just surreal with shear amazement that words alone cannot bring out our uttermost feelings.  Scott began to describe the delicate and painstaking task of re-aluminizing the 200″ mirror, which is due up shortly.  He also informed us how the telescope is fitted with Adaptive Optics to remove atmospheric distortion to render sharper images.  Imagine the possibilities of having a similar system for a commercial telescopes someday!  As dusk settled in, the observatory dome began to open.  Professional Astronomers would soon be hard at work analyzing and compiling data for their research studies.  It was quite fascinating to witness the dome turn, which made it seem as if the telescope itself was rotating on its azimuth axis.  Scott then took us inside one of the supporting arms of the telescope, which housed a spectrograph instrument.  As a child,  I thought the “arm” was the telescope itself, as many people still believes to this day.  After taking a lot of photos, we were then invited to walk the “cat walk” outside the dome, which gave us breathtaking views of the surrounding mountainsides.  Palomar Observatory’s “other” telescope were visible nearby, which included the 48″ Samuel Oschin Telescope and the Testbed Interferometer, to name a few.  By then the Milky Way was plainly visible despite the light glow from neighboring cities below.  We then visited the telescope control center, and how nostalgic it was to see some of the old equipment still there that were used by past astronomers long ago.  Of course, today’s astronomers uses modern day computers, but it was still great to see the old technology mixed in with the new.   The Astronomers on duty were already busily at work, so we made sure not to disturb them while we were now in their “office,” although everyone was very nice and friendly towards us.

The next stop was a visit to the Samuel Oschin Schmidt Telescope located just a short drive away.  This telescope actually uses a 48″ corrector plate and a 72″ primary mirror to scan and survey the northern sky with its wide angled views and is operated robotically.  Scott brought out a couple of old photographic plates taken through the telescope of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and a deep sky image of a galaxy grouping.  One word to sum up the images - amazing!  What’s even more amazing was the small, thin lines (best seen under a magnifying glass)  which represented hundreds upon hundreds of additional galaxies beyond our Milky Way!  At the time we visited the Samuel Oschin Schmidt Telescope, the primary mirror was already removed for recoating, so just the empty telescope housing remained upright.  It hard to imagine that we were standing right next to the same telescope that countless asteroids, comets, supernova and Kuiper Belt objects were discovered with.  I could just picture Edwin Hubble himself, pipe and all, peering through the 10″ refractor guide scope mounted onto the 48″ Telescope, just like in the famous photograph of him.

With one more short drive down the road, Scott and Jim took us to their new up and coming Public Outreach Facility.  Once a schoolground, this facility will be used for outreach projects and public star parties.  The spacious playground will provide ample space for the general public to look through telescopes at the night sky.  In fact, Scott informed us that the 10″ refractor currently attached to the 48″ Telescope, will no longer be needed for guiding, so it will be mounted for public use.  Now guests will be able to peer into the heavens with the same telescope that Edwin Hubble used long ago.  Very cool.  As our tour began to wind down, Jim brought out a computerized telescope to give us a taste of the Palomar skies.  Objects observed included the Ring Nebula (M57), the Dumbbell nebula (M27), a couple of nice globular clusters, including the Hercules Cluster (M13), (M92), (M15), Albireo (a double star) and the Double Cluster (NGC 864) and (NGC 884).  On a side note, 2 original orange tube C8 telescopes were recently donated by a local community college and will be used for the observatory’s Public Outreach Programs.

We would like to sincerely thank Scott Kardel and Jim Mettler for providing us with the great indepth history lesson of Palomar Observatory and an awesome behind the scenes tour of the magnificent 200″ Hale Telescope, 48″ Samuel Oschin Telescope and the new upcoming Public Outreach Facility.  You certainly made our day and helped to fulfill our lifelong ambitions to make the pilgrimage up to the Palomar Observatory.  For more information regarding the Palomar Observatory and to learn more about their upcoming Public Outreach Facility, please visit their website at: http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/.