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matt
Vendor (Scopemania)
Reged: 07/28/03
Posts: 10022
Loc: Chaville, France
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A post by a Victoria, BC-based user reminded me of one of my most intimate observatory visit. In 1997 my girlfriend (now my wife) were touring Vancouver Island (my first of only two trips there), and I realized that we were not far away from Dominion Observatory, which is near Saanich, which I knew housed a 72 inch reflector which had been the world's largest until the 100 inch Hooker telescope on Mount Wilson, but I had not even thought about it while preparing our trip. So one day we board a bus (I did not have a driver's license then) and ask if it's the right one to get there; the driver tells us in alarm that there's still a three mile walk to the observatory. He looked even more alarmed when we told him we were aware there was a three mile trek left and intended to walk it.
It was more like a five mile walk as I took the wrong road after the bus stop, under a sun which was getting slightly less pleasant by the hour. We had the heartbreak hill at the foot of the hill - see, they had placed that observatory on top of a hill! So we huff and puff our way up the hill to find a couple white domes, and a few buildings which all looked close and very quiet (it was 5 PM so I was expecting a few astronomers to be up). No visitor information centre or welcome area which you come to expect about anywhere in Canada. We were unexpected, to say the least.
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Matt
CI700 mount with various scopes on top.
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matt
Vendor (Scopemania)
Reged: 07/28/03
Posts: 10022
Loc: Chaville, France
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Having not crossed an ocean, a continent, the Juan de Fuga Strait, and walked for two hours under a sun which now rated as "scorching" to make the trip back down without trying a door, I tried the handle of the largest dome's knob - expecting to find someone inside. In my brain raced thoughts of the two likely hypotheses - being kicked out (very likely) or welcomed by an astronomer or night assistant delighted to show us the place (not really likely). The door opened, and inside was (suspense!) nobody. So at this poinf I really feel like friend. What are we going to do? We are going to get caught anytime and what will I tell them?
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Matt
CI700 mount with various scopes on top.
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matt
Vendor (Scopemania)
Reged: 07/28/03
Posts: 10022
Loc: Chaville, France
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So we venture inside. There is something which looks like a vacuum coating chamber, and a flat mirror 72 inches which we guess serves to test the 72 inch, but as it's just standing there unprotected I guess it does not get used a lot (looking back at the picture I see there's a label on the mirror, so I guess it was left there as an exhibition). I really don't like being in that situation. It's worst than finding someone inside - at least we would have known if we were welcome or not. But there's a stair, and we climb it.
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Matt
CI700 mount with various scopes on top.
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matt
Vendor (Scopemania)
Reged: 07/28/03
Posts: 10022
Loc: Chaville, France
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And there we are, standing next to what used to be the largest telescope in the world, and the largest Canadian telescope until the 3.6 meter CFHT was put on top Mauna Kea in the '80s. (the picture shows the declination axis of the mount. It's a 1/2 second handheld exposure so forgive the quality). There are red LEDs flashing at the back of the instrument (which seems to be of some cassegrain design) and motors purring, so I guess an observing session will be on at nightfall.
Then, suddenly, we hear the door opening. That's it. We're trapped. The good point is that if we get arrested and dragged to the local RCMP station is that we won't have to walk back. But fortunately, it's just two New Zealand tourists, who came up out of curiosity but seem to know little about telescopes. They gave us a ride back down in exchange for a little explanation about telescope mechanics. So we did not get a tour, but we did get to see the telescope.
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Matt
CI700 mount with various scopes on top.
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Bill Grass
Prince Regent
Reged: 10/07/03
Posts: 11652
Loc: Denham Springs, LA
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Great story & pics, Matt!
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dgs©
Postmaster
Reged: 03/29/04
Posts: 13930
Loc: West Monroe, Louisiana
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Amazing! Too bad you didn't find someone there to give you the details on everything and, perhaps, give you a peek. That would have been nearly epic! Looking through history to view ancient history in the sky. 
I don't doubt that if the situation was in the US, vandals would have long ago rendered it useless. I'd wager observatories here are locked up when no one is around. They would be if I were in charge... too much expensive, delecate kit lying about to trust anyone wandering in would be knowlegable enough to "look but don't touch". Stuff could get ruined by a complete innocent, not to mention the nominally nefarious youth with a can of spray paint.
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- david
8"Ø Newtonian on SVP, Moonlite CR2, Telrad
PST Oberwerk Ultra 15x70 Orion Ultraview 10×50
Hand-me-down Sears Refractor (Discoverer) 60mm×900mm
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world, remains and is immortal." --Albert Pike
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rboe
Numbfinger
Reged: 03/16/02
Posts: 39765
Loc: Phx, AZ
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Great story!
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Ron
NS11GPS
Pronto
16" dob
15X70 Obies
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summitlake
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 09/05/03
Posts: 878
Loc: Castro Valley CA
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Thanks for posting, Matt. I enjoyed the story and pix -- will have to look for Part 1 tomorrow!
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Alex
Meade LX90 8" SCT
Orion 127mm Mak
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