Palomar Observatory - San Diego County, CA
Posted by: Metro2
N 33° 21.386 W 116° 51.878
11S E 512594 N 3690810
Palomar Observatory is located atop San Diego County's Mt. Palomar.
Waymark Code: WME0CA
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 03/16/2012
Views: 8
Owned by the California Institute of Technology, this observatory has seven telescopes.
From the Observatory's website (
visit link) "The telescopes of the Palomar Observatory are involved in a wide variety of astronomical research programs. The studies conducted here range from the hunt for near-Earth asteroids to probing distant galaxies and quasars at the farthest reaches of the universe."
The Observatory's 200-inch Hale Telescope The 200-inch (5.1 m) was the world's largest effective telescope for 45 years (1948 - 1993) and is still used nightly.
Also at the site are a:
48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope
60-inch Telescope
Palomar Testbed Interferometer
Planet Search Telescope
18-inch Schmidt Telescope
24-inch Telescope
Since the Observatory is an active research center, visits are only permitted during the day: Visiting hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. while on Standard Time and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. while Daylight Savings Time is observed. The site is open every day except Christmas and Christmas Eve.
There is a small Museum and gift shop near the Observatory.
The ride up to the site is very enjoyable- as you rise up long winding roads, you'll see roadside fruit stands- usually featuring locally grown avocados and oranges. You will also travel through several Indian Reservations....some of which have casinos.
Additional information can be found at the Wikipedia site: (
visit link)
See more about the stamp at (
visit link)