The best way to enjoy a visit to Fremont Peak Observatory is to give yourself (and your family) plenty of time to enjoy the park and all it has to offer.
In the late afternoons, you'll find many short hiking trails (see the Park website) and frequently a variety of wildlife -- deer, rabbits, foxes, sometimes even a tarantula.
Fremont Peak is one of the best places in the area to view sunsets. (On a rare afternoon when the fog line is gone and the horizon is razor sharp, you might even see the fabled "green flash." Ask an astronomer!)
It takes up to an hour and a half after sunset (see here, enter "Salinas") for twilight to fade and skies to be really dark. Now is a good time to get familiar with the lay of the land, and get some looks at other amateur telescopes as the astronomers do their final set-up and adjustments.
Weather on Fremont Peak is highly variable and often unpredictable. The weather on the peak is almost always very different from that in the valley just a few miles away.
Always bring many layers to Fremont Peak. Nighttime temperatures in spring and summer are sometimes only a few degrees above freezing, even when the daytime temperatures are quite warm. Stargazing is usually a low-energy activity, so you may find that your body does not stay warm very easily. Winds on the peak can add significantly to the chill.
In the spring it's not uncommon for skies to be clear but the valley fog to rise above the the peak, obscuring the sky and making everything quite damp. FPOA will cease operating if that occurs.
In late summer, sometimes Fremont Peak rises into an inversion layer above the valley marine layer, and may be several degrees warmer than the valley floor, making for light-jacket astronomy all night long. But always be prepared with warm clothes.
There is no parking for visitors immediately next to the observatory, by the ranger residence, or at the gate to the FPOA area. To visit the observatory follow the directions in our parking instructions for details of how to park and pay the entrance fee. (In brief, drive past the observatory entrance, pay the fee at the station in the parking lot, and then park there.) The walk is about 1/4 mile down from the parking lot and includes a slight climb — for handicapped access, please email FPOA the day before at the address below. We will try to accommodate your needs if you call us from the park.
Astronomers treasure their dark adaptation. Good dark adaptation comes only after avoiding lights for 20-60 minutes. That time is required for chemical changes to increase the eye's sensitivity to light. When dark adapted, bright lights can be painful, and your eyes will require some time to recover. Dim red light is not as damaging to night vision, so you will find many dim red lights in use around the observatory and by individual astronomers.
If you've never experienced dark adaptation before, you may be surprised at how well you can see under a starry sky even with no moon. If you allow yourself to become fully dark adapted, you'll be able to see fainter objects with more detail in any telescope.
Nevertheless, for safety's sake, it is recommended that you carry a flashlight and use it when necessary while negotiating the pathways from parking areas to and from the observatory. Point the flashlight only at the ground and not at the observatory.
For a professional astronomy experience, it's easy to turn an ordinary flashlight into a good dark adaptation light. Any auto parts store will sell red tape that is used to cover a broken tail light on your car.
Never shine a flashlight towards someone else's face, with or without red filter tape. That person will be effectively blind for several minutes.
And be careful with cell phones. They are amazingly bright
On dark nights we prohibit the use of any source of white light (e.g. flashlights or cell phones) at the observatory. Once you are at the observatory then you will no longer need a flashlight as we have our own safety lighting. If you still feel that it would not be safe for you then we suggest you visit on a night with a first quarter moon when we relax the light rules. For more information contact FPOA.
By visiting on a dark night you warrant that you can safety operate in the FPOA area with just the assistance of our safety lighting.
When the moon brightly lights the sky it is strong enough to cast shadows on the ground. From a safety point this is the safest time to visit since your eyes will need virtually no time to adjust to the surroundings. On moon nights we relax the light rules (but still do not shine flashlights in people's eyes). The cost of a bright moonphase is that you will not be able to see dim objects in the sky. We will be still able to show the Planets (and the moon).
Besides the observing program in the observatory, many FPOA volunteers will have their telescopes set up just outside the observatory. These are part of the public program as well, and you are invited to take looks through all of the telescopes nearby. (There's no need to spend all of your time in line for the big telescope!) For many objects you'll find the view just as good in the fine amateur instruments belonging to our members.
As with most delicate and sensitive instruments, use only your eyes, not your hands, when observing. Besides being polite, you'll find that any touch of the telescope or mount will be transmitted and amplified in the eyepiece, making for a shaky view. And never peer into the "business end" of a telescope (the part facing the sky). Moisture and contamination from breath is not welcome.
You'll find that FPOA member volunteers are very knowledgable about the night sky, astronomy, and telescopes, and welcome your questions. Always ask before looking through any telescope.