The dome of the 200 inch Hale telescope on top of mount Palomar

Despite its approximately 70 year age (started in 1928, completed in 1948), the telescope has constantly been updated with new instrumentation. A new adaptive optics device will soon be installed with some 3000 AO actuators. Sodium lasers provide a suitable guide star when required.

Note the white panels on the dome shutter: for CCD flat fields

Home of the 18inch Schmidt telescope used by Caroline and Gene Shoemaker to discover many comets which included Comet Shoemaker-Levy.

The 60 inch telescope is fully automated and has a deployment time of approximately 2 minutes to rapidly follow up on gamma ray bursts and other transient phenomena.

Old friends- Peter Ward (right) and Scott Losmandy posing infront of the 200" Hale telescope. Many thanks to Richard Garcia (behind the camera) for the personal "cook's tour" of this venerable instrument !

The Hale 200 inch control room.

The mounting: Made in the USA in 1938 !

Vaccuum chamber and (on the wall). Spare 24 foot diamater RA and Dec gears for the 200". The gears have yet to see service

What to do when it was cloudy? Shoot pool !! Names such as Zwicky, Hale and Hubble often passed some time during cloudy conditions here.