Carnegie Observatories Open House

If you were not at the Carnegie Observatories open house last weekend (and you might have been, it was crowded), you missed the Hale Library, which, predictably, was my favorite part. I have a thing for libraries.

The Observatories building, designed by Myron Hunt and hiding in a residential area on Santa Barbara Street, is not often open to the public, so I was excited to snoop around inside. There's an expansive interior yard, a machine shop my husband would trade the house, me, and even the dog for, and some solar telescopes I didn't get to see because the line was too long. And more. Science. It takes up space.

The Hale Library is named for George Ellery Hale, one of Pasadena's most multi-talented early citizens. An astronomer, he founded Mount Wilson Observatory among others, and also mentored Edwin Hubble. Hale was a civic minded type, instrumental in how Pasadena's civic center was laid out. The Pasadena Permit Center building, kitty-corner to City Hall, is named for him.

The open house was pretty cool. I got a lot of pictures. I'll pepper them in here on the old blog from time to time. To take this picture, my camera looked through a pair of Rainbow Glasses (made in Reseda!) that demonstrated a fancy-looking machine so popular I never got near it.

Were you there in the crowd? If you got a look at that machine I'll be interested to know what you saw through your Rainbow Glasses.

Mount Wilson Totem

We're at the Mount Wilson Observatory. I don't remember which building we're in. I know what it looks like but I forget what it's called. Maybe, if we're lucky, Bellis will check in and tell us.

Some days I haven't taken a picture and I don't have an idea of what to post. I click through my thousands (upon thousands) of photos and hope something strikes me.

This one may turn out to be one of my favorites.

Ground. Building. Trees. Sky.

The Birds Like the Stars

Last weekend's Knowledges at Mount Wilson Observatory was an ambitious exhibit of contemporary art, the Saturday portion of which sold out--okay with me, as I'm past my staying-up-late days. Because the exhibit was scheduled for the entire weekend, Bellis and I drove into the mountains on Sunday to see it.

Bellis and I especially liked this (plexiglass?) sculpture with three chambers: a lower, clear chamber, an upper chamber containing a complicated birds' nest, and a slim, top chamber with an inch or two of water in it. From one angle the sun shone through, from another you could see the solar telescope framed in the bottom chamber, from another angle, the bird's nest literally disappeared. From every direction, something new happened. Unfortunately, the piece wasn't labeled.

After deciding we liked the work very much, Bellis and I went on to walk around the Observatory. It looked like a lot of the works had been removed, but a trip to Mount Wilson is never wasted unless the place is closed, and even then you've had a relaxing mountain drive. A few interesting pieces remained, but I'd have been fine with it even if our plexiglass nest holder had been the only one still there.

Unfortunately, the brochure listed the artists but not their works, making it impossible to identify what works there were, as very little was labeled. But this is the first time they've done anything like this at Mount Wilson and I hope they do it again. I think it was pretty good for a first try. 

On our way out we stopped to visit our favorite piece again. By this time the sun was playing with the water in the top chamber. Hot yellow! Sugar pink! Searing blue! Bright green! Depending on where you stood you'd get a different flash of color, and we exclaimed like kids at the Fourth of July fireworks. "Ooh! Ah! Amazing!" We were thrilled with it; we kept moving around to all sides to see what it would do and where the sun would go. Oh! And how did the artist make that nest disappear?

A young man sat nearby taking pictures. So we asked, and yes, he was the artist. Otherwise I would not be able to tell you that this magical work is called "The Birds Like the Stars," and it was created by Claude Collins-Stracensky. I think he enjoyed our exclamations. It's art, of course, and as Collins-Stracensky hadn't declared his presence he could just as easily have overheard criticism. He said that's part of the fun. What a pleasure it was to meet him, and to be able to tell him honestly how much we liked his work. But he already knew that.

"This is a place of magic," the brochure says. They got that part exactly right.


(LOOKY! Pasadena Adjacent went Saturday night!)

Mt. Wilson Week: Hubble and Beyond

Let's top off Mt. Wilson Week with a cool building on a hot day: the 100 inch telescope.

The knowledge that there are galaxies other than our own is relatively new. It was discovered by Edwin Hubble who worked right here in this building. You can go inside, see his bentwood chair and cool off while you contemplate the universe.

This building's innards are sealed up museum-style, but did you know you can book an observing session with the 60-inch telescope at Mt. Wilson? You were looking for an interesting gift. You needed an inspiring date location. There you go. You're welcome.

If that's a little steep for you, you can become a Friend of Mt. Wilson. Even handsome, famous, old observatories need friends.

Mt. Wilson Week: Solar Telescope

I haven't described the Mt. Wilson Observatory landscape to you.

On a mountain top, wooded paths lead you amid the pines, and occasionally there looms a tower like something from a 1950's "Mars attacks" movie. You're not scared because it's sunny out, everything's in color and you can see the paint is peeling on the props.

If I have my notes right (I might not, this is why I'm not an astronomer)*, this is the 1904 Snow solar, the first telescope built at Mt. Wilson. I believe it still works. Mt. Wilson is an important, fully operational observatory even now, 107 years after its founding. So much so that when the Station Fire singed the crackly edges of its environs in 2009, many firefighters risked their lives to save it.

*I've gotten a note from Bellis, who knows: this is not the 1904 Snow telescope but the 1912, 150-foot solar tower/telescope. It's all for the best that I didn't pursue a career in astronomy--you may not believe this but I did once consider it.

From inside the dome at the top of this tower, the Mt. Wilson live towercam brings news and joy to the lowlanders. If you check out the towercam during the day (and you're not reading this twenty years from now) you'll detect green mountains in the foreground and brown ones not far in the distance, showing you some of the 250 square miles of Station Fire burn from 2009. There's some green on those hills, but they've got years 'til full recovery.

The Mt. Wilson website's history page is temptation to keep reading. George Ellery Hale founded Mt. Wilson. Edwin Hubble made historical discoveries there. Albert Einstein paid a visit. Talk about stars.

Mt. Wilson Week: Cosmic Cafe

You probably won't go to the Cosmic Cafe* first. You'll probably walk around the grounds and check out the views--wear yourself out a little. That is, if you drove up. Some people hike, so they come pre-worn out. I wouldn't recommend hiking on a hot day; the trail is long and (necessarily) uphill, and it doesn't have much shade.

The first thing you'll see upon your approach to the Mt. Wilson Observatory, no matter which way you arrive, is this impressive set of towers. They mostly serve Los Angeles-area radio and television stations. This view of them is from the Cafe.

Two of us had their excellent hot dogs. A third had the hummus and didn't finish it, so I finished it for her. Piggy.

The Cosmic Cafe is popular and super-casual. Folks wear their hiking clothes. Dogs are welcome (there's a dish for them, too). Nothing fancy but the views.

*The Cafe is only open on weekends.

Mt. Wilson Week: Haramokngna

It's easy to get to Mount Wilson. Just drive north on the Angeles Crest Highway (the 2) to Mount Wilson Road and turn right at the Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center outpost.

This quiet spot is a small museum of artifacts of the Native Americans who lived in this area before the Spanish came. They were the Tongva, the Chumash and the people they traded with. They're not exactly gone, either. Their descendants still live in the LA basin today.

There's going to be a public Basketweavers Day this Saturday, August 6th, featuring a basketry exhibit in the Toypurina Gallery and workshops by Southern California weavers. It's a good day to stop in at Haramokngna, which means "Place where people gather."

Theme Day: Postcard-Worthy

You may be aware that the first of the month is Theme Day around the City Daily Photo world. Today's theme is "postcard-worthy." I think this eastward view of the San Gabriel Mountains from the lookout at Mount Wilson lives up to the theme.

If you've stopped in for your Monday Zen, never fear: we'll have one of our rare Zen Tuesdays tomorrow.

City Daily Photo is now 1408 blogs strong; the newest is Guatemala Daily Photo.

Wish you were here!

Click here to see other post cards from City Daily Photo bloggers around the world.

Quintessential Pasadena

While John and I were walking Christmas day he pointed out to me this quintessential Pasadena view. If it's not quintessentially Pasadena it's at least quintessentially north of the 210 freeway. Click on the photo to enlarge it if you can't make out the towers of the Mt. Wilson Observatory. The Observatory, the mountain, the palm tree and the Spanish tile roof are typical views on the north side of town, not to mention the streetlight silhouette.

There were scientific and historic reasons to protect Mount Wilson during last autumn's Station Fire. For those who don't live here, perhaps knowing the Observatory is part of what we see from almost everywhere in town will help you understand the emotional reasons as well.

Inspiration: John Sandel.