Griffith Observatory is located in Los Angeles, California, on the slope facing south at the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. It has a panoramic perspective across Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Basin, including Downtown Los Angeles to the southeast and Hollywood to the south, with an expansive view of the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. This observatory has become a favored tourist attraction that offers a stunning sight of the Hollywood Sign and an extensive range of science and space exhibits. It was named for its patron, Griffith J. Griffith. Admission has been free since the observatory was opened in 1935, per the donor’s will. Over 7 million could see via the 12-inch (30.5 centimeters) Zeiss refractor since the Observatory’s opening in 1935. This is the highest number of people to have seen through any telescope.
History
On the 16th of December 1896, 315 acres (12.20 km2)) of land around the observatory was given by the City of Los Angeles by Griffith J. Griffith. Griffith gave money to construct an observatory, exhibition hall, and planetarium on the donated land through his will. Griffith aimed to open astronomy to all people, as opposed to the traditional belief that observatories should be situated on remote mountain tops and be restricted to scientists. Griffith wrote precise requirements for an observatory. Griffith worked with Walter Sydney Adams, the new director of Mount Wilson Observatory, and George Ellery Hale while drafting the plans. They co-founded (with Andrew Carnegie) the first telescope for astronomy situated in Los Angeles. It was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project; construction began on the 20th of June, 1933, with a concept created by the architects John C. Austin and Frederic Morse Ashley (1870-1960) and based on sketch sketches drawn by Russell W. Porter.
Exhibits
The first exhibit visitors came across in 1935 included the Foucault pendulum, designed to illustrate the movement of the Earth. It also contained 12 inches (305mm) Zeiss refracting telescope in the east dome, a triple beam coelostat (solar telescope) in the west crown, and a 38-foot relief representation of the moon’s northern polar region. Griffith demanded that the observatory be equipped with an exhibit on evolution. The Cosmochron display, including narration by Caltech professor Chester Stock and an accompanying slide display, accomplished this. The evolution exhibit was on display from 1937 until the mid-1960s. The initial design was a planetarium beneath the enormous central dome. The first shows focused on subjects such as the Moon and the worlds in the Solar System and eclipses. The planetarium theater was upgraded in 1964, and the Mark IV Zeiss projector was installed. EZ Los Angeles Junk Removal
The Cafe at the End of the Universe, A tribute to the restaurant at the End of the Universe, is among the numerous cafes owned by famous chef Wolfgang Puck. One wall in the cafe is covered in the most significant photograph ever created by astronomers (152 feet (46 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 meters) high) known as “The Big Picture,” depicting the Galaxies of the Virgo Cluster; guests can view the detail-oriented image from within arm’s reach or by using telescopes up to 60 feet (18 meters) away. In 2006, The 1964 vintage Zeiss Mark IV Star projector was replaced by the Zeiss Mark IX Universarium. The old planetarium projector is part of an underground exhibit about how humans view the sky.
Address: 2800 E Observatory Rd, Los Angeles, CA
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