Griffith Observatory

Yesterday, my sister and her friend took me to the Griffith Observatory. It was really exciting since I enjoy looking up at the stars, and I had been looking forward to going here for a while. When we arrived, we parked somewhere on the hill, not too far from the observatory. It was quite crowded at the observatory today.

As we walked up to the observatory, we saw a fantastic view.

We are finally at Griffith Observatory! Hooray!

Before we entered the building, we looked at a few of the things outside such as this statue of scientists who contributed to astronomy like Nicholas Copernicus and Galileo.

We also saw this sundial in front of the statue that actually told the accurate time.

This was also interesting.

After examining the stuff outside, we proceeded inside the building. Many of the things inside were really cool such as this Tesla Coil which produced lightning.

There were also other displays that explained how telescopes work. Some telescopes refract light, while others reflect light (This is the type of telescope that I own which uses mirrors and a lens to enlarge the image. This allows people to observe fainter objects in space.)

This is a model of the observatory and telescope. It was there to show people how the actual telescope works.

Then, we went to the other side of the observatory to see some more displays. This one explained how people studied the sun. We actually got to look through the spectrohelioscope and were able to see the solar flare.

Look, it's the periodic table of elements. Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen...... Hmm.....where was I again? Oh right, the periodic table of elements. This table had samples of each of the elements in the boxes. There were also buttons you could push that would show what some things were composed of such as stars and humans.

Don't forget Lanthanum! This was the element that I had to do a project on in science class.

Next, we went downstairs to look at some more displays. Here's a large 269-pound iron meteorite. For some reason, my sister is afraid that one is suddenly just going to crash down from the sky and hit her even though the likelihood of that happening isn't great. Though if it did happen, she wouldn't be the first person to be hit by a meteor.

Wow! This is a large replica of the moon and next to it is an actual moon rock.

Hmm.... I wonder what my weight on Mars would be. Let's see.... I am much lighter on Mars than Earth.

After all that walking around, we got hungry, so we went to The Cafe at the End of the Universe. We shared some nachos, a cookie brownie, Silk.... Well, you can see it for yourself.

We also went to the Stellar Emporium Gift Shop. It had all sorts of neat gadgets such as a gyroscope. However, I ended up getting a Planisphere which is a star chart which you are supposedly going to be able to use until 2020.

When we finished looking around at all those gadgets, it was time for the show. We attended this show called Centered in the Universe at the Samuel Oschin Planetarium. It was so cool. It reminded me of the nights that I went outside to stargaze except a lot more comfortable. It was all about the universe It also showed us a brief history of astronomy, how there are many galaxies, and that the universe is enormous. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Well, it looks like the sun is beginning to set. Let's take a look at Los Angeles.

Next, we went to look through the large Zeiss refracting telescope. Tonight, the telescope was directed at Saturn. We were able to see it's rings and color. It was as the person there said "butterscotch yellow". I was glad to be able to see this since I had been looking for it outside every night that I had gone out to stargaze.

I had a fun time at the observatory, and I am glad that there is one located here even in midst of the city.