The Big Bear Solar Observatory sits on a causeway extending into the lake, operated by the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The location is deliberate: the lake's thermal properties suppress atmospheric turbulence, giving the observatory some of the steadiest seeing for solar research in the hemisphere. The Goode Solar Telescope, completed in 2009, is the world's largest ground-based solar telescope and has produced detailed images of sunspot structure and solar flares.
The observatory is a working research facility, not a tourist attraction, but it holds occasional public open days and can be viewed from the causeway road. Even without access, the building itself — a white dome sitting on a platform above the water, with the mountains behind — is one of the more striking sights in the area.