Tanya Lambaren
Astronomy 110
Extra Credit Griffiths Observatory Have you ever been to the Griffiths Observatory? Well after I visited the Observatory I’ve learned a lot of information and was a great experience for me. This was very exciting because this was my first time visiting the Observatory. When I arrived at the museum, I noticed many appealing things immediately. I became aware that visitors can actually become observers from outside of the building. For example the museum offered telescopes for me to use to look into the sky. When I walked further along the site I notice a Solar System Lawn Model. Engraved in the ground was the Milky Way (our solar system), and a Sunset and Moonset Radial observer. Since the observatory was in so many movies, including: Yes man, Funny People, and the Terminator. To me it looked like a mansion. It had a large field of grass that on looked the Los Angeles Horizon. It had a patio where visitors can watch the sunset and sunrise. It also had a section to take pictures in front of the Hollywood sign. I took advantage of it and got myself a picture.
The first thing we saw when we walked in was the giant pendulum hanging from the tall dome ceiling. This pendulum is proof that the Earth rotates and every seven minutes, domino from a row of dominoes is knocked over by the tip of the pendulum. After that, we looked through the Ahmanson Hall of The Sky. This held many exhibits explaining the patterns of the moon and stars and how they affect the Earth. There were many sections at the Griffiths Observatory that had hands-on activities for me to learn about. One for example was a machine that determined the temperature of my body, called a UAV Ray generator. I moved aimlessly around the machine to see how hot or cold I was. As it turns out, my ears are actually colder than any other part on my body. To me it seemed like it was looking through heat vision goggles. As if I was looking for someone through a scope, dead at night. I then knowingly, started grabbing random objects to find out the temperature. It was amusing at first but I later got into trouble. Checking out this demonstration is something I would recommend for new visitors. The time I spent at the Griffith's Observatory, I learned a lot about our galaxy. There was so much to learn about there because everything I would see was all new to me. I also learned that we weight different in every plant and some we are heavier and on other we are lighter. I learned a lot about how our galaxy started from the big bang till now and that our galaxy is 4.5 billion years old. This was a great experience for me I know I will return again.