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Blog archive

December 2024

November 2024

Event of Remembrance
11/22/2024

Phishing Scams: What You Need to Know
11/22/2024

Pupusas Family Style: Another Adventurous Dining Winner
11/22/2024

Celebrating the Holidays
11/21/2024

Genealogy Group: Discovering Our Pasts
11/21/2024

Nathan Wolford – From Tragedy to Ministry
11/21/2024

Pasadena Village Board of Directors: A Brief Overview
11/21/2024

President's Message
11/21/2024

The Day of the Dead (Dia de muertos)/ Mexican Culture/Community
11/21/2024

Vintage Celebration: Aging Like a Fine Wine
11/21/2024

Review of Racism in Our Local Past
11/20/2024

Creative Juices Flow in The Village
11/19/2024

Checking In by Ed Rinderle
11/15/2024

Eagle Poem by Joy Harjo
11/15/2024

I Shall Forget You Presently, My Dear (Sonnet IV) by Edna St. Vincent Millay
11/15/2024

Pictures From Brueghel by William Carlos Williams
11/15/2024

October 2024

ARBORIST WALK: NOT FOR TREE HUGGERS ONLY!
10/29/2024

Bill Wishner: Visual Hunter
10/29/2024

Can a Village Group Fix Our Healthcare System?
10/29/2024

Community Board Directors Strengthen Village Board
10/29/2024

Connecting with Village Connections: The A, B, C, & D’s of Medicare @ 65+
10/29/2024

Grief is a Journey: Two Paths Taken
10/29/2024

Message from the President
10/29/2024

Promoting Informed & Involved Voters
10/29/2024

What Will Be Your Legacy?
10/29/2024

1619, Approaching the Election...
10/27/2024

Beyond and Within the Village - A Star is Born
10/17/2024

Happiness by Priscilla Leonard
10/11/2024

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
10/11/2024

Unpainted Door by Louise Gluck
10/11/2024

In the Evening by Billy Collins
10/10/2024

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
10/10/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

September 2024

August 2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

First Anniversary
08/19/2024

Alexandra Leaving by Leonard Cohen
08/16/2024

Muse des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden
08/16/2024

The God Abandons Antony by Constantinos P. Cavafy
08/16/2024

Ch – Ch – Ch –Changes
08/15/2024

Cultural Activities Team offers an ‘embarrassment of riches’
08/15/2024

Engaging in Pasadena Village
08/15/2024

Future Housing Options
08/15/2024

Message from the President
08/15/2024

There Are Authors Among Us
08/15/2024

Villagers Welcome New Members at the Tournament Park Picnic
08/15/2024

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
08/14/2024

A narrow Fellow in the Grass by Emily Dickinson
08/13/2024

Haikus
08/13/2024

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
08/13/2024

Poem 20 by Pablo Neruda
08/13/2024

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
08/13/2024

Trees by Joyce Kilmer
08/13/2024

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

Emergency Preparedness: Are You Ready?
05/28/2024

Farewell from the 2023/24 Social Work Interns
05/28/2024

Gina on the Horizon
05/28/2024

Mark Your Calendars for the Healthy Aging Research California Virtual Summit
05/28/2024

Meet Our New Development Associate
05/28/2024

Putting the Strategic Plan into Practice
05/28/2024

Washington Park: Pasadena’s Rediscovered Gem
05/28/2024

Introducing Civil Rights Discussions
05/22/2024

Rumor of Humor #2416
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2418
05/14/2024

Springtime Visitors
05/07/2024

Freezing for a Good Cause – Credit, That Is
05/02/2024

No Discussion Meeting on May 3rd
05/02/2024

An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing
05/01/2024

Flintridge Center: Pasadena Village’s Neighbor That Changes Lives
05/01/2024

Pasadena Celebrates Older Americans Month 2024
05/01/2024

The 2024 Pasadena Village Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
05/01/2024

Woman of the Year: Katy Townsend
05/01/2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

A visit to the CARNEGIE OBSERVATORIES

By Blog Master
Posted: 05/31/2022
Tags:

The Carnegie Observatories


Did you know that the oldest scientific institution in Pasadena can be found on a quiet residential street in central Pasadena?  The main offices of the Carnegie Observatories are located in Pasadena on Santa Barbara Street, with about 65 scientific, support, and technical staff in residence. Last month, a group of Pasadena Village members were privileged to visit the facility on a tour led by Dr. Jeff Rich, Outreach Coordinator, and Erica Clark, Strategic Initiatives Coordinator.


On our tour we learned how, in 1904, George Ellery Hale (founder of Caltech), whose motto was “make no little plans”, obtained support from the newly formed Carnegie Institution of Washington to build the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory in the mountains near Pasadena.  Dr. Hale, one of the founders of modern astrophysics, was determined to push beyond the astronomy of earlier generations to understand the internal physics of the Sun and the stars.  In pursuit of this goal, stellar telescopes soon followed the initial complement of solar telescopes on Mount Wilson: first the 60-inch, then the 100-inch Hooker telescope, each the largest in the world at the time of its construction.


The Mount Wilson telescopes transformed astronomy and astrophysics. It was with these instruments that scientists first mapped the globular cluster system of the galaxy and “discovered” the Milky Way. With the aid of the 100-inch telescope Edwin Hubble then discovered that the Milky Way is only one of millions of galaxies in an expanding universe.


We learned about Milton Humason, who dropped out of school and had no formal education past the age of 14. Because he loved the mountains, and Mount Wilson in particular, he became a "mule skinner" taking materials and equipment up the mountain while Mount Wilson Observatory was being built. In 1917 he became a janitor at the observatory where he volunteered to be a night assistant at the observatory. His technical skill and quiet manner made him a favorite on the mountain. Recognizing his talent, in 1919, George Ellery Hale made him a Mt. Wilson staff member. This was unprecedented, as Humason did not even have a high school diploma. He soon proved Hale's judgment correct, as he made several key observational discoveries and was instrumental in assisting Hubble in his key discoveries. In 1950 he earned a D.Sc. from Lund University. 


Dr. Rich explained how, as the night skies surrounding Pasadena became less dark, the ability of the Mt. Wilson telescopes to “see” into the night skies diminished. Thus, in 1970 the Carnegie Observatories began constructing the Las Campanas Observatory located in the Atacama desert in Chile, in a region of dark and clear skies and excellent viewing unsurpassed by any site on Earth.  


Fifty-two hundred miles from Chile, scientists and administrative personnel in Pasadena analyze and study the data coming from the faraway telescopes. The scientific staff of about a dozen Staff Members, and an equal number of postdoctoral fellows and associates, have access to time on the institution's four telescopes. The principal telescopes at Las Campanas are the Swope 1-meter telescope (named after astronomer Henrietta Swope), the du Pont 2.5-meter telescope, and the twin 6.5-meter Magellan telescopes. Carnegie operates the latter for a consortium whose other members are Harvard, MIT, and the Universities of Arizona and Michigan.  


Our group walked through the machine shop where most of the instruments for the Las Campanas telescopes are designed and built under the direction of Carnegie astronomers, including the broad suites of optical and near-infrared cameras and spectrographs. Work at the machine shop also continues to craft cutting edge equipment to aid in the science, including equipment that allows modern day cameras to take a new look at the data gathered in the past.


Though a succession of earthquakes felled many of the early buildings, the original 1912 office building still stands. This building, designed by Myron Hunt, houses the library and offices. We made ourselves comfortable in the book-lined library as we listened to Dr. Rich and Ms. Clark describe the work and interactions of scientists including Albert Einstein. Although the walls are lined with books, today everything is done digitally. We learned that the basement contains historical documents including the photographic plate upon which Carnegie astronomer Edwin P. Hubble captured the image of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) with the Hooker 100-inch telescope of the Mount Wilson Observatory. Only two people know the exact storage location of this historic photo that is known as “the photo that changed the world”, as it was evidence that there are more galaxies than we had ever imagined.


In order to continue to attract the best scientists, staff members and research fellows at the Pasadena campus have no other responsibility than to do great science; neither teaching, nor the search for outside funding, nor any other institutional priority need distract them from their own intellectual goals. It is this exceptional environment, nestled away in a quiet area of Pasadena that has enabled the relatively small Carnegie staff to make such disproportionately large contributions to astronomy.


All of us on the tour came away impressed by the breadth and scope of the Carnegie Observatories research and impact on our understanding of the universe. Research fellows like Dr. Rich demonstrate the commitment and willingness to engage in what to us is mind boggling ideas. We are indeed fortunate to have this resource in our community.






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