Mt. Wilson Observatory Hideout II

I kept getting up from my dinner last night to photograph the sunset. I finally had to stop because I was hungry. My kitchen window at my Mt. Wilson hideout looks out over Pasadena and Altadena, to the west of where I sit.

I'm fortunate to have a weekend getaway in a cabin at Mt. Wilson Observatory, high above Pasadena in the San Gabriel Mountains. Mt. Wilson was founded in 1904 by George Ellery Hale. Einstein visited here. Here, at the 100-inch telescope, Edwin Hubble discovered and proved the expansion of the universe.

While I thought of the great scientists, the moon rose almost full to shine over the places they'd walked. The valley to the west and south twinkled. The Observatory still houses scientists and experiments, but larger telescopes in Chile and Hawaii are used for the Hubble-type discoveries these days. We have too much light pollution here now.

Night critters began to make their moves. The windows and doors have screens and a breeze flows through, so I've got air conditioning without bugs. Depending on what time of year you come up, you might want a bug net that goes over your hat. I'm told the nets are $4 at Big 5. I'll have to get one for next time. The (seasonal) gnats adore me and escort my face wherever I go. Except in my cabin. They haven't figured that out yet. It's a good strategy for staying inside and writing.

It's been a long time since I've watched the sun rise. Today is the first time I've ever watched it from up on the mountain. After I had my coffee I took a walk to get some exercise, snoop and take pictures. I will never run out of Mt. Wilson pictures to post.

This walkway between an office and the machine room had some lovely light, so I photographed it without noticing the thing on the floor. Probably a drain. But of course I must go back and make sure.

This building houses the Snow Solar Telescope, which was the first telescope on the mountain. Hale brought it here in 1904. I've never seen it. Maybe that's because it's in use even now.

People live here. At least four cabins are occupied, as far as I know. I haven't snooped everywhere, but I can ask. I'm fascinated by the idea and I feel privileged and grateful to be here for my writing weekend.

I keep saying "my." I'm feeling ownership. I was sitting here typing when a family of tourists walked by, having ignored the "do not enter" signs and marched on into the private areas. I was immediately outraged. Then I understood their curiosity. I'm pretty sure they heeded the "DANGER: DO NOT ENTER!" signs beyond the monastery because if they hadn't they might not have come back.

I want you to have a proprietary feeling about the Mt. Wilson, too. As the Observatory ages it becomes more of a museum, and this amazing place will need you more and more, to be its protectors, visitors and benefactors.

Come on up. It's open 10am-5pm, 7 days a week, as long as the roads are open. And it'll take you longer to drive from Pasadena to Santa Monica than it'll take you to get here from just about anywhere.

I promised pictures of the monastery. I haven't forgotten.

Carnegie Observatories, I

Here's a familiar face.

Everybody knows Albert Einstein spent a good deal of time in Pasadena in the 1930's, lecturing at Caltech, visiting JPL and Mount Wilson, and generally being a science ambassador around Los Angeles.

Here's a center of astronomy that Einstein visited but many Pasadenans don't know about: the Carnegie Observatories. I don't think there are any telescopes in the building but even if there are, in the middle of a residential neighborhood on a residential street, most of the science here is being done on computers and in brains. A huge part of their work, however, comes from Carnegie Observatories' telescopes at Las Campanas in Chile.

Lovely little library, isn't it?

That's George Ellery Hale in the painted portrait. Hale was the idea man behind so much of what are now historical observatories, including Mount Wilson Observatory. He was even instrumental in the design of Pasadena's beautiful City Hall Plaza, where one of the buildings is named for him.

In the photograph you see, among others, Edwin Hubble (the tall guy, second from left). Hubble is most known for discovering and proving the expansion of the universe. He also figured out that a lot of what had been thought to be nebulae were, in fact, galaxies. Imagine how all those galaxies boggled minds when they hadn't been considered before.

I think you can pick out Professor Einstein in the picture.

J and I were invited to visit the Observatories by Dr. Cindy Hunt, a Caltech PhD and head of Carnegie's Social Media efforts. In the next couple of posts, Dr. Hunt's going to lead us to some places the public never sees.

We'll visit deep space via the deep, dark basement of the Carnegie Observatories. Stay with us.

In the mean time, mark your calendar for Sunday, October 18th from 2-5pm for the Carnegie Observatories open house. Click on the link and give them an RSVP, s'il vous plait.

Inside the Solar Telescope

Through a dark door beneath a gleaming tower, we enter the small building that houses Mount Wilson Obervatory's 150-Foot Solar Telescope.

Fluorescent lights shine on interesting photos and diagrams that line the walls. This bust of George Ellery Hale looks like the one I photographed at Caltech in 2009, but I learned that it's not the same. This one was rejected by the Hale family. The accepted bust is at Caltech somewhere, though it's likely been moved since I took its picture.

At first you think, "Oh. Well, it's an old room. With old computers in it. And...wait, what are all these dials and knobs and...?"

Then someone turns off the lights.

You know you can't look directly at the sun, but there it is before you on the table, with today's spots.

Every day the sun's spots are mapped, and the information is shared for anyone to see. This research is used worldwide.

Then more magic—I mean, science. Before our eyes, on the table, sunset.

Shadows float across the circle of light, first of the Mt. Wilson radio towers, then of the western mountain range itself.

Then the gloaming fades into night.

A room full of enchanted enthusiasts lets out a cheer. It's easy, then, to understand why our ancient kin worshipped and feared the sun.

Mount Wilson: Science in Transition

The Mount Wilson Observatory was founded in 1904 by George Ellery Hale, who encouraged the likes of Edwin Hubble and who also had a great deal to do with the way Pasadena looks today. Think the city center plaza and City Hall. Think Caltech. Thank you, Mr. Hale.

More than 100 years later, important astronomical research continues at Mount Wilson, especially the CHARA Array, operated by Georgia State University. Don't ask me what it does. I've had it explained to me twice, once by John and once by Craig Woods, and I still don't get it. But it looks cool from above.

Craig Woods, by the way, is the reason John and I got a behind-the-scenes tour. He's our friend and the superintendent at Mount Wilson, the guy with all the keys. He's up on all the experiments, the history, and the equipment at Mount Wilson. Plus he's willing to climb some precarious ladders.

I hope you'll take another look at my May 10th post about Mount Wilson. Here's a further explanation of those photos:

First, that big engine, and its rheostat, power the tool-making shed. 110 years ago, when you got up to Mount Wilson with your mule cart or your Model-T, you weren't about to run down to Flintridge if you forgot your screwdriver. If you needed a tool or a part, you made it. Many of those magnificent old things are still there. Some explain themselves, some don't. Unless you're Craig, then you know what they are.

Near the tool shed is another shed that's a treasure trove of maps, blueprints and files. There's a small library with early Scientific American magazines and other works. There's an ancient and dusty stand-up grand piano and a pool table that hasn't been used in, I would guess, 20 years.

Off the upper left of this map is the 100 inch telescope. You can see the circles indicating the 60" telescope and the smaller but taller Solar Telescope, which is still in use. The 60" has lately been used for a couple of Hollywood parties. Stars, stargazing. This is an old map so it doesn't show all the buildings you might be familiar with if you've toured Mount Wilson in recent years. Off the pathways to the right, beyond the "no entry" signs, there are some cabins that are not currently in use. Fixer-uppers.

Mount Wilson Observatory is old. Newer, larger telescopes dot the planet. The larger the telescope, the deeper into space an astronomer can study. Although Mount Wilson still has many uses, it's now in a transition phase, becoming a museum. Funding will be needed to preserve all those beautiful blueprints and plans, to maintain those telescopes and historic buildings, to keep it all available so the public can visit and learn about the early days of astronomy.

It's also a place of natural beauty, everywhere you turn, even on the steps climbing up the hillside to the tool shed.

More soon.

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.

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.

Reverence Library

Yesterday I promised you a look inside the library at Caltech's Henry M. Robinson Laboratory of Astrophysics. Because the building's being readied for renovation, not much remains in the way of books. Yet, when I visited, other things were still there, like this bust of George Ellery Hale. Besides founding the Mount Wilson Observatory and many other things, Hale was instrumental in creating the California Institute of Technology out of Throop Polytechnic Institute.

I don't know if the bust will stay but the light fixtures will. This one's decorated with Roman symbols.

I revere libraries. A truly ancient one can bring me to tears. This one is merely old, and it's about to undergo big changes. Once again, I refer to Romy Wyllie's book, Caltech's Architectural Heritage. Part of the construction of the Robinson Laboratory building includes what Wyllie refers to as a "rectangular well." The well used to contain a 75 foot spectrograph, according to Wyllie. I've also heard it referred to as a solar telescope. (I sense updates and corrections coming in comments today.)

The well shaft is currently closed but the renovation will open it, meaning sunlight will be admitted into the basements and to this lovely little library.
Take a look at the Caltech Nobel Site. A load of physicists populates the list of Caltech Nobel Laureates (and I must beg a tour of the chemistry building one of these days). Now think of the brilliant scholars of yesterday and today who have sat at this table and pored over these books. Some of them have literally changed how we see the world. Some of them have stayed at Caltech to teach the next generation of mind-bogglers.

The scholars of tomorrow will sit in a modern building across the street. That building looks ugly to some people, though not to all. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter. I'm certain that 75 years from now some googly-eyed fan will ogle those glass and chrome rooms with reverence.