Palomar Observatory's Educational Mission and Partners

Visitors line up to see the Hale Telescope during a 2005 Palomar Observatory open house. (Palomar/Caltech)

A key element in Palomar Observatory's strategic mission is sharing its research program with the broader community. Consequently a vibrant and inclusive education and public outreach program is an important part of Observatory life. Our program involves Palomar staff, astronomers, volunteers, visitors, and astronomy enthusiasts. In doing so we hope to foster enthusiasm for science and engineering in students across all levels and educational institutions, and promote public awareness of the role the Observatory has played in astronomy and Southern California history.

Educational Partners

Palomar Observatory conducts tours and hosts demonstrations, star parties and presentations for educational institutions throughout the region. We define "educational institutions" broadly to include not only grade schools, high schools, and colleges, but scout troops and other youth organizations as well.

Under this broad definition, the following is a partial list of the educational organizations with which we have established partner relationships over the last six months:

Scout Groups [show]

• BSA 1, Huntington Beach
• BSA 24, Point Loma
• BSA 113, San Clemente
• BSA 121, Oceanside
• BSA 125, Arcadia
• BSA 127, Agoura Hills
• BSA 130, Ramona
• BSA 148, Temecula
• BSA 176, Riverside
• BSA 233, Corona
• BSA 316, Santa Ana
• BSA 332, Wildomar
• BSA 384, Santee
• BSA 411, La Verne
• BSA 509/JPL, La Cañada
• BSA 567, Fountain View
• BSA 586, Redondo Beach
• BSA 615, Mission Viejo
• BSA 616, San Diego
• BSA 653, Escondido
• BSA 853, Chula Vista
• BSA 824, Yorba Linda
• BSA 1218, San Diego
• BSA 1238, Fullerton
• BSA 1602, Mission Viejo
• BSA 1999, Garden Grove
• BSA 4070, El Centro
• CSP 7, South Pasadena
• CSP 300, Murrieta
• CSP 681, Rancho Bernardo
• CSP 722, Walnut
• GSA 722, Riverside
• GSA 1133, Encinitas
• GSA 1628, Temecula
• GSA 2925, Valley Center
• GSA 6562, San Diego
• GSA 16751, South Pasadena

Educational Institutions [show]

• American Language Institute, SDSU, San Diego
• Chaparral HS, Temecula
• Chula Vista Learning Community Charter HS, Chula Vista
• Colorado Mountain College, Steamboat Springs, CO
• Copper Mountain College, Joshua Tree
• Costa Mesa HS, Costa Mesa
• CSU Long Beach, Long Beach
• Czech Technical University, Prague, Czech Republic
• El Camino College, Torrance
• Emerson Academy, Studio City
• Fullerton College, Fullerton
• Girls’ Leadership Training Seminar, Shiviti, San Diego
• Gottlieb Daimler Gymnasium, Stuttgart, Germany
• Grossmont College, El Cajon
• High Tech High International, San Diego
• High Tech Middle North County, San Marcos
• Inspire Charter Schools, San Diego
• Irvine Valley College, Irvine
• La Petite École du Lycée Français, San Diego
• Lincoln Middle School, Oceanside
• Los Angeles City College/CURE, Los Angeles
• LSAMP, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV
• Mesa College, San Diego
• MiraCosta College, Oceanside
• Mission Viejo HS, Mission Viejo
• Mission Vista HS, Oceanside
• Nanyang Technical University, Singapore
• NASA Student Airborne Research Project/UC Irvine
• Palomar College, San Marcos
• Perris Union HS, Perris
• Pomona College, Claremont
• San Diego Community College, San Diego
• San Diego Science Olympiad, San Diego
• San Diego State University, San Diego
• Somerville HS, Somerville, MA
• Spangdahlem HS, Spangdahlem, Germany
• Student Video Project, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
• Summer Undergraduate Astronomy Institute, Pomona College, Claremont
• Sweetwater Union HS, National City
• The Cambridge School, San Diego
• The Perchanga School, Temecula
• University of California Riverside, Riverside
• University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL

Other Associations [show]

• Caltech Alumni Association, Pasadena
• Forest Fire Lookout Association, San Diego
• MIT Alumni Association, Cambridge, MA
• San Diego Science Writers Association, San Diego
• The Burn Institute, San Diego
• The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Ottawa, Canada

In addition, as part of our general outreach program, we maintain relationships with Griffith Observatory, Julian Starfest, Mt. Wilson Observatory, Riverside Telescope Makers, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Temecula Valley Astronomers, San Diego Astronomy Association, and the International Dark-Sky Association among others.

Outreach Resources

Visitors learn about the 200-inch Hale Telescope from a docent during a weekend tour. (Palomar/Caltech)

In serving these and other organizations, the core of our outreach community resides in a group of 40 who volunteer their time in support of the tours and other activities of Palomar's outreach program. In 2013:

• Each year, the docents donate 2,400 or more hours of their time to the program;
• More than 3,000 people participate in the public tours lead by the docents; and
• Throughout the year, the Palomar docents give presentations about the Observatory to organizations throughout southern California.

Speaker Program

The Observatory can make speakers available to groups throughout the area. We tailor presentations to the interests of a particular audience. Even so, there is a standard set of discussion topics that includes the history of Palomar Observatory, the science of Palomar Observatory, and light pollution’s impact upon the Observatory and its neighbors.

For more information regarding this program, contact Steve Flanders at sbf [at] astro.caltech.edu.

Online Presence

The Universe as seen by the Palomar telescopes is available through Google Sky and Microsoft's World Wide Telescope. The digitized images of the photographic surveys conducted with the 48-inch (1.2-meter) Samuel Oschin Telescope provide a significant part of the optical wavelength imagery used by both virtual sky exploratory tools.