Palomar Observatory

observatory in Southern California

Palomar Observatory is a privately owned observatory in San Diego County, California, 90 miles (145 km) southeast of Mount Wilson Observatory, on Palomar Mountain in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and run by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The observatory is made up of four main telescopes: the 200 inch (5.08 m) Hale telescope, the 48 inch (1.22 m) Samuel Oschin telescope, the 18 inch (457 millimeter) Schmidt telescope, and a 60 inch (1.52 m) reflecting telescope. Also, the Palomar Testbed Interferometer is located at this observatory.

Palomar Mountain Observatory
Alternative names675 PA Edit this at Wikidata
OrganizationCalifornia Institute of Technology Edit this on Wikidata
Observatory code 675 Edit this on Wikidata
LocationSan Diego County, California
Coordinates33°21′23″N 116°51′54″W / 33.3564°N 116.865°W / 33.3564; -116.865
Altitude1,712 m (5,617 ft) Edit this at Wikidata
Established1928 Edit this on Wikidata
Websitewww.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/ Edit this at Wikidata
Telescopes18-inch Schmidt camera
Hale Telescope
Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) at Palomar observatory
Palomar 60-inch telescope
Palomar Mountain-DSS
Palomar Testbed Interferometer
Samuel Oschin telescope Edit this on Wikidata
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

The word palomar is from the Spanish language, meaning pigeon house. The name may be because of the many pigeons that can be seen in the spring and autumn months on Palomar Mountain, or it may be because of an old pigeon-raising building built there by the Spaniards.[1]

References

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  1. Wood, Catherine M. (1937). Palomar from teepee to telescope (PDF). San Diego: Frye & Smith. Retrieved 2017-02-22. p. 4.