We had the absolute best time with Starman Steve. I have 3 young "space-obsessed" grand-nephews and…read morethey were all over Steven with questions. He was SO GREAT with them. The boys were jumping up and down in excitement. We had worried about bandwidth with the boys and an astronomer presentation. Well, far from it. They were 1000% engaged. We all loved learning about the constellations, the laser light was a big wow for the kids. We loved looking through the telescope. It was a Giant Win for the whole family. Thank you, Steven you made our trip something very special we will always remember.

Steven was outstanding. Had him come out to our resort for our corporate event. We learned a lot…read moreand had a great time. Highly recommend!!

They have a "folded lens " telescope. Basically, a huge telescope that takes up way less space…read more It's a little difficult to find, the gps failed us on that one. But when we called, they knew exactly how to guide us. We had to find the entrance behind a high school football field if I recall. Great tour, the kids had a blast. Wonderful gift shop as well. They treated us wonderfully.

Great little observatory run by passionate and educated locals! Events are paused for COVID but you…read morecan take a free guided tour of the telescope on Saturdays and visit the gift shop.

Great telescope accessories!…read more Nice work on what you have created. It is a pain in the butt to worry about where your eyepieces and accessories are.

I bought a Shannon Telescopics EP tray about two years ago. At first I found it useful for my…read moreeyepieces and the hand controller, plus any other accessories I needed while visually observing including filters and flashlights. But since I moved on to imaging, I have not used it much recently. It is a great item if you are into visually observing as it provides numerous holes for you 1.25" and 2" eyepieces. Plus it has to cutouts for the hand controller of your goto Nexstar telescope. As I said, since i moved on to imaging, I have not had the inclination of using the EP tray, but I would recommend it to anyone who is using their telescopes for visual observing. It is a great accessory to have.

Took an incredible tour with two very informative and incredible tour guides. We were able to get…read moreclose to the telescope and operate a simulation on how it works. It was very cool and we enjoyed our time here.

Yesterday (March 18th, 2025) we made the drive up to Mt. Palomar Observatory, something my…read more93-year-old father-in-law said he wanted to do. Seeing this wonder had been in the back of my mind as well, so I said, "Let's do it!" Having only recently lost his wife, through tears he explained to our amazing, friendly and knowledgeable guide Christi that he'd hoped to bring her up to the observatory someday, but she passed before he'd had the opportunity to do so. To Christi, he said, "I'd love to look through that 200" telescope and try to find my wife in Heaven." Definitely a tug on the heartstrings moment... and she responded with the sort of compassion one would expect from a family member. As other reviewers have noted, the public is not allowed to look through the scope; that privilege is reserved for nighttime astronomers. News to this 70-year-old reviewer... learn something new every day! That said, Christi explained to us the intricate construction of the telescope, the "re-mirroring" every two years, how the entire dome rotates to accommodate the different astronomers' needs, why the inside of the observatory is kept at a chilly 40°, and so much more. She told us she was "...new here..." but would answer as many questions as she could. Well, I'm a questioner, especially when seeing an incredibly complicated device such as the Hale Telescope (named after astronomer George Ellery Hale). Christi was able to answer most of my inquiries, and I have no doubt she will research the answers to any questions that stumped her. I cannot recommend this young woman highly enough to the powers that be at Mt. Palomar Observatory. Next to the gift shop is a small but very informative room for visitors thirsting for more information. The infinity of the Universe has always fascinated me, along with the mind-boggling intelligence of those who wish to explore its vastness. This tiny room is bursting with their stories. To those who posted "glass-half-empty" reviews here, I'm sorry the wonder of this landmark was lost on you. Perhaps you'll give it another look sometime. Getting a feel for how tiny our little planet Earth is when compared to the infinite puts our very existence into an entirely new perspective.

This is mostly for the VIP area. I'm at the age where I don't want to stand for an entire show nor…read moredo i want to push and throw elbows with fellow music fans. Bought reserved seats upstairs. Decent view of the stage. Great sound. I paid extra for premium parking. There is free parking within a couple of blocks. I think premium parking is worth it as I've heard there are predatory tow services that tow cars parked in lots of nearby CLOSED businesses. Douchey move. Enjoyed the show, food was decent "pub grub" but pretty limited menu. Nice selection of beers, cocktails and seltzers, really limited wine options.

I have been to many shows at the Observatory and I am quite disappointed with my last experience. I…read morecame to see Plain White Tees, New Found Glory and Yellow Card, who were playing at their festival grounds. I saw a bunch of bands play at that space many years ago, and it was a great time. I go to shows often and have never experienced something as horribly organized and planned as this. The first thing is that there was no approved parking in the nearby area. They had everyone park at Santa Ana College and take shuttles and buses to the venue. There are several businesses in the area, with large parking lots and it would have made way more sense to have people park there (even for a fee). We drove by one and there were actually security guards from the venue posted up, not allowing anyone in. I even asked a guy if there was paid parking options, because I really didn't like the idea of my car being so far away + feared the lines and getting back (post show). We couldn't find an alternative, so we did park at the college and waited in an enormous line to take a city bus. The bus was packed with concertgoers and was not comfortable, with many of us standing. The driver drove extremely erratically and I felt very car sick. He slammed on the breaks and even stopped in the middle of the road at one point. I was so happy to get off the bus and we realized the driver dropped us off at the front, which meant we had to walk nearly a mile to get into the back of the line. The line moved somewhat quickly, but it was wrapped around the nearby buildings 2xs. It was so awful, especially because that whole experience made us miss the first band, despite getting there over an hour early. I heard many other people talking about how terribly organized this was and how they came just for the first band and were pretty upset. Going through security was ok, but they made some people go through the serpentine line and others didn't, so if you were the one in the serpentine line and your friend didn't, guess what, they're waiting for you! It's just so strange, everything felt so horribly planned, despite the fact that this is what the venue does on a regular basis. I honestly don't feel a huge draw to go back to this venue for a long, long time.