Mt Wilson

Just above the chaotic cityscape of Los Angeles hides a secluded mountainous forest where there is silence, solitude, and a giant eye that looks deep into the cosmos. This little gem is Mount Wilson Observatory founded by George Ellery Hale in 1908. The observatory is home to two very important telescopes: a 60-inch Hale built in 1908 and a 100-inch Hooker, which was the largest telescope in the world up until 1948 when the 200-inch Hale telescope was built at Palomar Observatory.

In 1896, George Ellery Hale recieved the 60-inch mirror, which weighed approximately 1,900 pounds, as a gift from his father, but did not have the funds to make use of it until 1904 when he received funding from Carnegie Institution to build an observatory. The telescope was originally built in San Francisco but just barely survived the 1906 earthquake. It was then moved to Mount Wilson in 1908.

This telescope became one of the most prestigious and effective in astronomical history. With its high technology for it's time, it was able to gather spectroscopic analysis, parallax measurements, nebula photography, and photometric photography. This large piece of equipment was so influential to astrophysics developments.

The telescope is now used for public outreach, which gave our class the great opportunity to get to experience deep space for ourselves. Lia rented the observatory for a half of a night, and we were able to look through the built in eye piece and see star clusters, Jupiter's ghost, Mars, and my all time favorite, Saturn. Looking at Saturn was the most mind blowing experience. It was as if I was looking at a photograph. The rings.....I saw all the rings! It was crazy.

We also took astrophotography which was awesome playing around with my camera in new ways. It was a night of looking up into the night sky, thinking about the giant universe around us, contemplating about what was around us, and how small we were compared to it all.