Mount Wilson Observatory
DETAILS:
Location: Mount Wilson Observatory is located in the San Gabriel Mountains above Pasadena. Enter “Mount Wilson Observatory” into your navigation app of choice will populate proper directions.
Hours of Operation:
From March 30 through November, the observatory is open to visitors everyday from 10AM to 5PM. During the winter months (December through March), the grounds open from 10AM to 4PM. On weekends during the regular season, the observatory gates open earlier at 8:30AM.
Tours: Available on Saturdays & Sundays from March 30th till December 1st at 11:30AM & 1PM. These tours allow special access to the telescope floor directly beneath the 100-inch Telescope, the 60-inch Telescope dome, and the 150-solar Telescope Tower.
Parking: Parking lot on site. A U.S. Forest Service Adventure Pass is required to park at the Observatory, but a day pass can be purchased for $5 at the Cosmic Cafe at the Observatory on weekends, 9AM to 5PM. During the week, the day pass (or $30 annual pass) must be purchased at various locations around Los Angeles before you head up.
Cost:
Parking: $5 for day pass.
Tours: $15 Adults. $13 for ages 12 & under and 62 & older (children under 6 are not permitted on tours). Tour tickets are available for same-day purchase at the Cosmic Café. If you want to avoid the risk of not getting a ticket, you can pre-purchase tickets via the website (provided below under “resources”).
Time Commitment: Approximately 2 hours for tours.
Miscellaneous:
The Cosmic Café, located above the main parking lot, serves fresh-made sandwiches and other treats and souvenirs on Saturdays and Sundays, March 30 through November, from 9AM to 5PM
The Observatory is not ADA-compliant and, except for the Astronomical Museum and the Cosmic Cafe, offer no access to those who cannot climb multiple flights of stars.
Weather conditions in the mountains can vary greatly and change suddenly, including snow and dense fog. The weather is often much different on the mountain than in the city below. On rare occasions, this can effect the Observatory’s operational hours so please check website before visiting.
If you prefer a self-guided tour of the observatory campus (minus access inside any of the telescopes) or can only go on a weekday, you can download a visitor’s guide and map from the website.
Other events are held at the Observatory throughout the year including a weekend concert series, astronomy lectures, and various solar & star gazing opporutnies. In addition, the 60” & 100” telescopes can actually be rented for viewing. Check website for dates and pricing.
Gazing up into the night sky and wondering how we matter in the universe has been a human preoccupation since the dawn of mankind. Heck, I question that on most days even when I’m inside, but I’ll save that for another blog. Suffice it to say, there are few things more brilliant or mesmerizing than a sea of never-ending stars twinkling above when we allow ourselves to flee the light pollution of our respective cities. It’s quite literally the stuff of dreams, and while dreaming is never a bad thing, thankfully some of us act upon this fasciation. One such man was astrophysics pioneer, George Ellery Hale who established the observatory on Mount Wilson all the way back in 1904. He would go on to build the observatory’s 60” & 100” telescopes in 1908 and 1917 which were once the largest telescopes on the planet, making Mount Wilson the center of the astronomical world for much of the 20th century, beckoning the likes of Edwin Hubble, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking. Now retired, these two telescope still remain the largest ones available for public consumption. And you can find all of this just above (okay, way above) the hustle & bustle of Pasadena.
City life will seem like a distant memory though as you wind your way up Angel’s Crest Highway to the observatory. Nestled in the isolation of Angeles National Forrest, it’s hard to believe that you’re still in Los Angeles and not in the uncharted territory of the wilderness. Once you’ve reached the summit, it will feel like you’ve entered a different world, a different plane of existence, in the observatory’s position above the clouds. As I stood there at the parking lot overlook, I couldn’t help but marvel at all the manpower it must’ve took to build the observatory this high in the mountains over a century prior (mule-pulled wagons that laboriously trudged up make-shift roads were needed during the initial construction).
Once you purchase your tour tickets (and parking pass if needed) at the observatory’s Cosmic Cafe, you’ll wait for the rest of your tour-mates to gather at the designated time before setting off with your docent. As with any tour, the experience is only as good as your guide. Thankfully, ours was up to the task, friendly relaying pertinent info at each stop and answering any questions we had. The highlight of the tour, of course, was getting to enter both the 60” and 100” telescopes. Each of these titans leave you in awe as you try to digest their scale firsthand and the scope of what they were engineered to observe. Feeling insignificant in the whole scheme of things would be perfectly natural here. I suppose that’s why we’ll always look skyward, continuing to ponder our place on this pale blue dot amongst the stars.
RESOURCES:
Mount Wilson Observatory website.
