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.