Los Angeles, CA. Griffith Park hiking trails are open, including Observatory grounds, as are most park roads and parking. Face coverings are required. However, Griffith Observatory is currently closed to the public as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Educators are doing their best to keep the public connected by offering several online exhibits and activities through its website. One of these programs is called All Space Considered. It’s a live, free program, broadcasted on the first Friday of every month over Griffith Observatory TV. The next will be November 2nd.
During this program, Observatory staff members educate viewers on the most talked about topics of space, including special celestial events and Apollo anniversaries.
Dr. Laura Danly, an Astronomer who serves as Curator to Griffith Observatory, said about their most popular programs, “We had over a million views. NASA used our feed for years before they finally did their own setup! I have been very proud of what we built with very few resources.”
Dr. Laura Danly, an Astronomer who serves as Curator to Griffith Observatory, (photo is from a TEDx Talk, Sep 26th, 2017.)
Danly has plans to retire from Griffith on December 5th and is unsure if she will be able to do another show beforehand. In addition to All Space Considered, Danly has created many other virtual features such as processing your own Juno images, a community photo gallery, detailed sky reports, and more. Before her departure, Danly plans to add the option to process your own Hubble images as well.
Griffith Observatory is a public observatory owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. While open and running, Griffith is one of the most popular informal education facilities in the U.S. and the most-visited public observatory in the world welcoming around 1.5 million visitors a year. The observatory is the living dream of a man named Griffith J. Griffith who donated the land for the park in 1896 and specified his vision for the park in his will. The observatory is home to several exhibits including public telescopes, an interactive and complete hall of the sky, and even a planetarium. Griffith J. Griffith believed “that if all mankind could look through [a] telescope it would change the world!”.
Griffith Hall of The Sky exhibit
Photography by Justin Donais
Samuel Oschin Planetarium Projector
© Griffith Observatory
To check out all of Griffith’s online offerings, go to its website: http://www.griffithobservatory.org/
From Griffith Observatory:
Griffith Observatory inspires everyone to observe, ponder, and understand the sky. Griffith Observatory is an icon of Los Angeles, a national leader in public astronomy, a beloved civic gathering place, and one of southern California’s most popular attractions. The Observatory is located on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, just above the Los Feliz neighborhood. It is 1,134 feet above sea level and is visible from many parts of the Los Angeles basin. The Observatory is the best vantage point for observing the world-famous Hollywood Sign.
