Mount Wilson Observatory-

Where Astounding Discoveries Were Made

Compared to the big observatories in Chile, at the Mount Wilson Observatory you can actually stick an eyepiece yourself n the telescopes and go stargazing! These are the biggest telescopes in the world where you can do that. Stargaze all night long.

The Observatory, located in Pasadena near Los Angeles California, has a program where you can spend time with the telescopes, either with a public group or as a private group.  We spent a couple of private nights up on the mountain, first night with the 100-inch telescope and second night with the 60-inch telescope.

Granted, light pollution has become so much worse in the Los Angeles area since the Observatory was built in 1905. But when we were observing, it turned out that light pollution wasn’t the problem that night, it was “seeing”.  The air turbulence was, to put it mildly, not the best. So the stars were wiggling around, and the galaxies that we also aimed at were pretty much not there. 

Even so, we had the stupendous  thrill of using the exact same telescopes that Edwin Hubble used to discover the expansion of  the universe, and Fritz Zwicky who discovered the existence of dark matter, among other very notable astronomers. Their names are still on the lockers they used.

While visiting the observatories in Chile, you are surrounded by  the latest  technology applied to making discoveries. At Mount Wilson though, you feel the pervasive sense of history made there which has led to where we are now in our understanding of how the universe works.

– Manny Sawit