Virtual Observatory Tours

The Palomar Observatory is located in San Diego, California. It’s owned and operated by Caltech and houses not one, but three telescopes. All three are in use for research purposes: Hale Telescope (200-inch), Samuel Oschin Telescope (48-inch), and Mayer Telescope (60-inch). One of the observatory’s missions is to “Inclusively share the Observatory's research mission and tradition with students and the general public, thereby supporting awareness and enthusiasm for science and technology and the roles they play in our society.”

In pursuit of this mission, Palomar offers a high-resolution virtual tour of all three telescopes, the visitor’s center, and areas that are off-limits to the public on ordinary tours. Isn’t it fun to be able to get a special insider’s look? You can start the tour in the visitor’s center or at any one of the three telescopes, and from there the tour will allow you to navigate to several other areas within the navigation.

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a joint effort involving dozens of countries and offers some pretty impressive, state-of-the-art facilities. The headquarters of the ESO are located near Munich, Germany. ESO also runs observing sites in Chile, namely La Silla, Paranal, and Chajnantor. If you’ve heard of the Extremely Large Telescope project currently in progress, you’ll be excited to hear that it’s one of ESO’s projects.

ESO offers 12 virtual tours, 6 of which are in VR and 6 that aren’t. These tours give you the chance to explore the ESO headquarters, Supernova Planetarium and Visitor Centre, ESO Santiago locations, and the three observation sites in Chile (La Silla, Paranal/Armazones, and Chajnantor).

Arguably one of the most well-known observatories thanks to the legacy of Edwin Hubble, the Mount Wilson Observatory is located in Pasadena, California, and has seen some dramatic discoveries in the field of astronomy. It was at Mount Wilson that Hubble made the observations that led him to conclude we are located in one galaxy of many, and the observatory itself was built with the goal of understanding more about the Sun and led to the development of astrophysics.

The virtual tour starts you off at the map of the facility, where you can decide what you want to explore first, including two telescopes and a solar tower.

Okay, so the Adler Planetarium might not be an observatory, but it’s the next best thing. What’s more, in partnership with Google Arts & Culture, the planetarium offers online exhibits all dedicated to, you guessed it, astronomy. You can even take a virtual stroll around the planetarium with the “Explore” feature. Exhibits featured at the time of writing include an exploration of the historical role of women in astronomy through the lens of drawings and artwork, as well as a closer look (with sunglasses, of course) at the Sun.

Again, not an observatory, but who could pass up a chance to check out one of the most famous museums in the world? The Smithsonian, like the Adler Planetarium, partnered with Google to bring you its virtual exhibits and a host of places to explore. In addition to covering all things space, the National Air and Space Museum features airplanes and flight-related exhibits as well. An interesting exhibit present at the time of writing, Ten Objects that Transformed the World, looks at real-world planes, science-fiction models, and space-worthy contraptions that have revolutionized what we thought humans could achieve.