Journey to the Crocker Dome...
the Vulcan Camera

	Once inside the dome, we proceed past a computer control room to the right and take several steps up to reach the observing area. A cable and pulley system operates the opening and closing of the dome shutter. Eventually, this system will be automated.
As our gaze moves upward from the pulleys to the top of the dome, the entire length of the Vulcan photometer comes into view.
	We approach the photometer to get a closer look. This left side view shows camera and lens assembly, finder scope, autoguider, Telrad unit (on top of the camera) and equatorial mount. The Telrad is an aiming device with a large (200) field of view. In the foreground, we can see a bottle of nitrogen that is used to keep condensation off the glass in front of the camera.
Walking around the back, we see cabling connections, the finder scope with fan and autoguider (round objects above the cabling). The autoguider looks very similar to the finder scope, except that it holds a small CCD and tracks a specified guide star using X-Y pixel coordinate information. The bundle of cables coming out the back of the camera are camera control cables and cooling cables (blue) containing ethylene glycol. Also visible is a polar offset developed by Dave Scimeca, that extends from the equatorial mount. The dark object in the camera foreground is a counterweight.
	Moving to the right side of the camera, we get a better view of the polar offset connecting the photometer to its equatorial mount. This extended offset provides sufficient clearance between the counterweight and mount to enable tracking of the CCD camera throughout the night without manually flipping the camera's axis.
Leaving the Crocker Dome, we glance back for one last look.
	Walking back to the car brings a hint of early evening as waves of fog roll over San Jose and the Bay Area.
A moment's pause to watch the sunset.
	As people below finish their working day, Vulcan observers eat dinner and prepare for the long night ahead. The darkening sky will soon reveal pinpoints of light. Tonight, perhaps one of them will reveal a possible planet orbiting a distant star.