This mini-documentary focuses on a new five-year observing project, being conducted by scientists at the Palomar Observatory in collaboration with international partners. Scientists believe that the project will unveil types of astronomical objects that have never been observed before. They will employ an old, but now robotized, wide-angle telescope with a new 96-megapixel camera and a high speed microwave relay link that will beam data to distant computing centres for analysis that will in turn trigger other telescopes, on Palomar and elsewhere to study the new objects in greater detail. This new project will give astronomers their deepest and most comprehensive exploration of the universe in the time domain as they hunt down objects that vary in brightness and position (on the scale of minutes to months) both near and far. Production for this mini-documentary was funded by Southern Oregon Public Broadcasting and the National Science Foundation in recognition of the 400 years of the telescope.
Palomar Mountain is a mountain in the Palomar Mountain Range in northern San Diego County, California, United States. It is most famous as being home to the Palomar Observatory. It is also the location of Palomar Mountain State Park, a California state park. There are campgrounds for vacationers, as well as a campground for local schoolchildren. The park averages 70,000 visitors annually. It is one of the highest peaks in San Diego County, at 1,871 m, although it is still dwarfed by the 3,505 m San Bernardino Mountains a little ways north in San Bernardino and Riverside counties and 4,420 m high Mount Whitney some 402 km north. South Grade Road, the stretch of San Diego County Route S6 going from California State Route 76 to the summit, is popular among sport bike riders and sports car drivers due to its challenging nature (over 20 hairpin turns over the distance of less than 11 km and low traffic. Popularity and difficulty of the road is such that, on a typical warm-weather weekend, an average of two motorcycle crashes requiring medical attention occur in the area. At the base of Palomar Mountain on S6 is Oak Knoll Campground, formerly known as Palomar Gardens. Palomar Gardens was made somewhat famous by an earlier resident George Adamski. Adamski had an observatory at Palomar Gardens and photographed objects in the night sky that he claimed were UFOs. Adamski co-authored Flying Saucers Have Landed in 1953, about his alien encounter experiences. It is also home to the Palomar Outdoor School for 6th grade students in the San Diego Unified School District. Additionally, there is a small pond at the top of the mountain that is one of the few places in San Diego County stocked with trout during the hot summer months. The limit for anglers is five fish, and is usually pretty easy to achieve with small spinners such as Mepp's or Roostertail, or the usual dough baits or night crawlers.
