The Hale Telescope

I had the pleasure of visiting the Hale Telescope on Palomar mountain on November 18th, 2002. For an astronomy buff, this is the equivalent of Graceland. You don't get much of a chance to look around, there's a small visitor' gallery inside the dome, where I took the below pictures, and you're so close to the scope it's a little like looking at the model of the blue whale at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. I was pleased to see the big scope still in active service, and the scope and grounds outside were in tip-top shape.

The Dome
The Dome 		Note entrance door in lower left
Note entrance door in lower left 		Cassegrain focus and south polar bearing
Cassegrain focus and south polar bearing
Upper tube assembly and yoke
Upper tube assembly and yoke 		Aluminization chamber for mirror
Aluminization chamber for mirror 		North Right Ascension bearing
North Right Ascension bearing
Optical interferometer, next to Hale dome
Optical interferometer, next to Hale dome