For as long as I can remember, my engineer/pilot dad has dragged my entire family to air & space museums, observatories, and other points of scientific interest all over the country. Seeing as I grew up an hour away from LA, I'm actually pretty surprised we've never made a family trip up to the Griffith Observatory. I figured I would make Dad proud and spend a Saturday afternoon getting my learn on at the Griffith Observatory in Griffith Park.
Barbara, Regina and I headed up to the Observatory on a stiflingly hot day in August. We thought it would be a nice reprieve from the heat, but unfortunately we weren't the only people with that idea! The parking lot was full, but luckily we were able to easily find parking along the road for free. After a short (and sweaty) trek up the rest of the hill to the observatory, we rushed to the line to catch the "Centered in the Universe" planetarium show. Entrance to the observatory is free for everyone, everyday, but the planetarium shows cost $7 for adults ($5 with your student ID!). We were able to get tickets to the show we wanted, and immediately headed over the blessedly air-conditioned Samuel Oschin Planetarium.
After settling into our incredibly comfortable reclining chairs in the planetarium, the narrator's almost comically soothing voice came on, and guided us through a map of the stars and the history of theories of the universe, starting with Copernicus to Galileo all the way to current theories about how the universe is expanding. It was fascinating, relaxing, and of course educational.
After the show ended, we started exploring the rest of the observatory. We quickly walked through exhibits on the moon phases, eclipses, and sun spots. Hands down, the best attraction on the main floor is the Foucault Pendulum, located in the Central Rotunda. The exhibit illustrates how the Earth rotates, featuring a 240-pound brass sphere swinging on a 40-foot cable. The pendulum is constantly swinging back and forth, propelled by magnets in the ceiling. So basically, the pendulum swings constantly in the same direction, even though every 10 minutes the pendulum seems to move slightly and knock over a peg. But it's actually illustrating that the Earth is rotating around the pendulum. So cool.
The main floor was super crowded, so we headed downstairs. We walked down the "Cosmic Connection" corridor, which pretty much blew my mind. I like to consider myself somewhat creative, and the display over over 2,200 pieces of cellestial-themed jewelry to illustrate the history of the universe was one of the most amazing museum exhibits I've ever seen. The exhibit not only told the story of the universe's history, but also shows how connected humans are to the sky, and how we are attracted to star, moon, and sun-themed jewelry. Barb and Regina made fun of me for nerding out, but I honestly loved this exhibit and can't wait to take my mom to see it (she would totally love it even more than me).
On our way to the gift store, we passed an exhibit about meteors and meteorites, and a friendly docent approached me and asked if I wanted to hold "the oldest thing on Earth." Hell yes I did! He then handed me a rock, about the size of a softball, but probably weighed around 30 pounds. It was a small piece of one of the largest known meteorites on Earth, the one that created the famous Canyon Diablo Crater, more popularly known as "Meteor Crater" in Northern Arizona (you better believe my Dad took us there years ago).
Afterwards, we headed outside to explore the two telescopes. One was closed at the time, but we learned from a docent that both telescopes are used for observation (haha, at a observatory, duh) and not for research. Both telescopes have 12-inch lenses, and are open every night for the public to look through. The Coelostat Telescope (the one that was closed) on the west end of the observatory is a solar telescope, and was currently focused on the sun. The Zeiss Telescope, on the east end, was going to be focusing on Saturn that night. Fun fact: more people have looked through the Zeiss Telescope than any other telescope in the world.
We spent about 3 hours at the observatory, including the 30-minute planetarium show. But even in that amount of time, we probably saw less than half of what the observatory had to offer. I highly recommend the Griffith Observatory, and all of Griffith Park in general. People complain that there aren't enough parks and green space in LA, but little do they know that Griffith Park is one of the largest public parks in the country (my douchey New Yorker coworker made a bet with me that it was smaller than Central Park... it's actually five times larger). I can't wait to go back to the Observatory sometime in the fall or winter when it's a little less crowded, and I'll be sure to go at night this time so I can look through the telescopes!!
Driving up Vermont Canyon Road, which dead-ends at the Observatory.
A professional picture courtesy of the Griffith Observatory website. The building and its location are absolutely stunning!
The cosmic connection's illustration of the Big Bang.
Holding a piece of the Canyon Diablo Crater Meteorite.
The helicopter over Barbara's shoulder is so LA.
The view alone is worth a trip!
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