Went to Mount Palomar State Park and Mt Palomar Observatory on a glorious Sunday afternoon. It is a nice 2 hour drive from San Diego, with the last 15 miles quite steep and winding.
The observatory has a 200 in reflector, which was the largest telescope in the world for a long time, and a source of may important discoveries. Looking at the beast from the viewers' gallery is quite impressive. This thing was made 60 years ago, and that was quite a feat. This telescope has adaptive optics, in that it is possible to adjust for atmospheric thermal fluctuations.
The state park is the usual quiet alpine woodland with okay views, but once you get to the western edge, there is the spectacular Boucher view point. From here, we could see the ocean at Carlsbad about 35 miles away, and Catalina Island about 100 miles away! Quite impressive. Probably the farthest distance I have seen the ocean from (barring airplanes).
And don't miss the great food at a small cafe at the intersection of S6 and S7 (where the roads to the observatory and state park branch off).
Sunday, September 24, 2006
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