Behind the Scenes tour of the Palomar's Largest Observatory on Saturday, January 20th, 2007. The long, winding, mountain road and chilly temperatures could not deter this group of highly technical individuals. This tour lasted approximately one hour and allowed our group to see the inner-workings of the Hale 200-inch telescope.
  PMO is a world-class center of astronomical research that is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology.  The observatory is home to five telescopes that are nightly used for a wide variety of astronomical research programs. The research is conducted by Caltech's faculty, post-doctoral fellows and students, and by researchers at Caltech's collaborating institutions.
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shot from visitors' parking lot

Radioactive barrels?

Original telescope control desk

TJ takes control of telescope model

Why is the dome opening up?

on the catwalk

Here we are, minus the event planner

including the event planner!

Palomar's largest telescope is housed within.

No, the housing behind the barrels is used to apply aluminum to the giant mirror.

In front of the observatory

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shot from visitors' parking lot

Palomar's largest telescope is housed within.