Mount Laguna Observatory

The gas station is closed. The Air Force base is closed. And they say the post office would close if it weren't for Roland Robinson and his mail-order harp-making parts business, which keeps postal workers behind a counter on Mount Laguna year-round. The postal people turn over to Robinson letters from India, Paraguay, Ireland and any other country where folk harpists clamor for spare parts. One of the workers Robinson keeps happy is his wife, Phyllis.

San Diego State University officials said they plan to build a powerful $2-million research telescope at the university's Mt. Laguna Observatory in the Cleveland National Forest, 40 miles east of San Diego. They said they hope the 100-inch telescope, 6,100 feet above sea level, will attract astronomers from around the world. Ronald Angione, director of the observatory, said there are only about 15 telescopes in the world that large or larger.

San Diego State University officials said they plan to build a powerful $2-million research telescope at the university's Mt. Laguna Observatory in the Cleveland National Forest, 40 miles east of San Diego. They said they hope the 100-inch telescope, 6,100 feet above sea level, will attract astronomers from around the world. Ronald Angione, director of the observatory, said there are only about 15 telescopes in the world that large or larger.

A tiny wafer of silicon is pulling the Mt. Laguna Observatory east of San Diego from the backwaters of astronomy into a revolutionary new approach to unlocking the heaven's secrets. Called a charge-coupled device, or CCD, the electronic wonder is a sophisticated version of the imaging chip used in those low-light home video cameras. But, for San Diego State University astronomers, working with the CCD has been like getting Mt.

A tiny wafer of silicon is pulling the Mt. Laguna Observatory east of San Diego from the backwaters of astronomy into a revolutionary new approach to unlocking the heaven's secrets. Called a charge-coupled device, or CCD, the electronic wonder is a sophisticated version of the imaging chip used in those low-light home video cameras. But, for San Diego State University astronomers, working with the CCD has been like getting Mt.

Six years ago, the San Diego City Council passed an important ordinance mandating the use of low-pressure sodium street lights throughout the city. This was done to preserve the dark skies of the San Diego area for astronomical observation and, at the same time, save the taxpayers more than $2 million a year through the use of energy-efficient lighting. Now the City Council is considering changing this ordinance or doing away with it altogether.

Lights used to decorate city businesses or illuminate billboards will have to be shut off by midnight so astronomers at two observatories in the county can have a better view of the skies, the San Diego City Council decided Monday.

The gas station is closed. The Air Force base is closed. And they say the post office would close if it weren't for Roland Robinson and his mail-order harp-making parts business, which keeps postal workers behind a counter on Mount Laguna year-round. The postal people turn over to Robinson letters from India, Paraguay, Ireland and any other country where folk harpists clamor for spare parts. One of the workers Robinson keeps happy is his wife, Phyllis.