This is the Solar Observatory on the lake at Big Bear Lake. Big Bear is at an altitude of over 6700ft and with over 300 days of sunshine a year makes it an ideal place to observe the sun. The observatory was built in 1969 by the California Institute of Technology and has been run by the New Jersey Institute of Technology since 1997. This photograph was taken a few weeks ago just after some of the heavy snowfalls to hit the Southern California Mountains.