Palomar Observatory Has Reopened And You Are Invited to Celebrate With Us
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, Palomar Observatory Docents will gather in our public spaces to greet visitors and talk about Observatory history, telescopes, and scientific contributions.
Weather permitting, from November 25 through 27, 2022, Palomar Observatory will be open during regular visiting hours (9:00am – 3:30pm). During these three days our docents will be available at the Greenway Visitor Center/Museum and in the Hale Telescope Visitors Gallery to speak with the public and answer questions.
Palomar Observatory docents are volunteers who graciously donate their time and energy throughout the year to share the Observatory's traditions with our visitors and with our Southern California neighbors. For this special event Observatory Docents will be available to engage with visitors, answer questions, and convey compelling stories of the team who raised $6 million in 1928 and then, through the Depression and the Second World War, built the Observatory on a high mountain in the wilderness of northern San Diego County. They are familiar with the remarkable discoveries made with Palomar telescopes over their seven decades of operation, and the equally remarkable scientists (e.g., Allan Sandage, Maarten Schmidt, Vera Rubin, Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker, Eleanor Helin, and Mike Brown), who made these discoveries.
Additionally, on Saturday the 26th, docents will have a telescope available near the Visitor Center specially equipped for viewing sunspots and solar prominences.
In conjunction with this event we are happy to announce the reopening of the Palomar Observatory Gift and Book Store starting Friday November 25. The store will be open throughout the weekend.
Palomar Observatory is located 35 miles NE of Escondido CA at the end of county road S6. There are no gas stations on the mountain and cell phone coverage is not dependable.
During this weekend, if the Observatory is forced to close due to weather conditions, a notice will be placed on our website at https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/palomar.
Please join us for this celebration of Palomar's public reopening.
About Palomar Observatory:
Palomar Observatory is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology, a private, non-profit research institution. Ever since science operations began in 1936, the Observatory has been at the forefront of astronomical research. Today, the telescopes on Palomar Mountain operate every clear night. This remains an iconic facility for scientific advancement, instrument development, and student training.