Feast for stargazers

Rameshinder Singh Sandhu

Have you always wanted to explore the mysteries of the universe? If yes, then exploring the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, located on Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, should be on your bucket list.

While there are endless exhibit galleries throwing light on the solar system, including special shows in their planetariums, the historic 12-inch Zeiss refracting telescope remains a cynosure for stargazers.

Since the observatory opened in 1935, more than seven million people have put their eyes through it. More people have looked through it than any other telescope in human history. Arrive here any evening and you will see a long line of visitors — young as well as old — waiting for their turn for a chance to connect to the sky.

Covered in round revolving copper roof, it is interesting to see how the revolving roof is opened and the telescope coming out hitting the direction of the chosen object targeted for showing. Ensure that you are one of those first few in the waiting queue as one can note how experts set the telescope and find the object to be shown.

Whatever object is most clearly caught by the Zeiss, it gets chosen to be shown. Thus for every visit, you have something different waiting for you. While in one visit, you could be meeting the moon, in the other it could be planets like Jupiter, Saturn or Mars.

Besides this, the three special solar telescopes in the hall of the sky section that present live views of the sun are also among the most explored “solar telescopes” on this earth. Here, fire rings of the sun steal every heart and one can hear around: “Did you note the fire flowing around?”

If exploring history of the observatory itself is what you also want, then head to Leonard Nimoy event horizon’s theatre that presents “Once and future Griffith Observatory”, a free 24-minute film where one learns that this observatory was one man’s vision for inspiring people through observatory: Griffith J Griffith, a Los Angeles-based businessman journalist and philanthropist, who left money in his will in 1919 to build the observatory and give free access to public from across the world. The observatory offers free admission, except the planetarium shows, which are shown at nominal prices.

The place is also known for best views of Los Angeles. Located at 1,134 feet above the sea level, the observatory boasts of the best bird’s-eye view of the Los Angeles basin, including its downtown, the famous Hollywood sign, besides the international airport and the Pacific Ocean.