Astronomers monument:
Everything got a new coat of paint, including this monument to Sir Isaac Newton and others who dared question civilization's understanding of the heavens. |  |
Inside the atrium:
The pit for the Foucault Pendulum glows before the bronze entry grilles. |  |
Grill detail:
The grillwork on the entry gate contains stylized astronomical symbols. |  |
Grill detail:
Rays of light form another design. |  |
Foucault Pendulum:
The atrium surrounds the pendulum pit, which contains a lit 24-hour clock face in leaded glass. |  |
Foucault Pendulum (closeup):
The 240-pound brass sphere of the pendulum hangs from a 40-foot-long steel cable reaching to the atrium ceiling. It swings steadily to and fro in a consistent line while the earth rotates beneath it so that its tip actually travels around the hands of the clock, keeping accurate time. |  |
Atrium dome:
Hugo Ballin spent two years painting the dome of the atrium with "Advancements of Science from Remote Periods to Present Time." The museum restoration crews spent many months restoring them painstakingly with ionic water and Q-Tips. Footnotes on the paintings detailed below are taken from John Mosley's "The Hugo Ballin Murals of the Griffith Observatory" as found at PublicArtinLA.com. Photos were 1 second handheld. Sorry for the blur where it occurs. |  |
Time:
"To the left an Aztec points to an ancient calendar stone. Emperor Yao of China sits witnessing the execution of magicians who failed to prevent a solar eclipse. On the right is Ulugh Begh, grandson of Tamerlane and keen celestial observer." |  |
Astronomy:
"On the left, Arzachel consults his early astronomical tables. John of Holywood works on an influential astronomical text. Copernicus, who replaced the earth with the sun as the center of the solar system, stands near Galileo, whose telescope is dwarfed by a modern version." |  |
Aeronautics:
"The artist portrays Archytas of Tarentium with his wooden pigeon; then Roger Bacon with his floating ball; Francesco de Lana with a flying boat model; Leonardo da Vinci, whose models perhaps needed only an engine; and Besnier, gliding successfully in 1678." |  |
Navigation:
"On the left, a symbolic figure of the Wind grasps a sundial and compass. Calm is shown to the right, holding a modern sextant. The moon orbits diagrammatically around the two figures. At the top is an astrolabe, an early astronomical instrument." |  |
Metallurgy and Electricity:
"On the left, St. Florian, patron of metallurgists, sits pouring water over fire beneath a converter for steel-making. a kite and key recall Benjamin Franklin's discovery of lighning's electrical nature. Otto von Guericke holds an early device which produced electricity through friction." |  |
Mathematics and Physics:
"First is a Greek geometer, whose work derived from the Egyptians. Their influence is shown by the god Thoth, behind. An Arab looks at the important mathematical contributions of his culture. The seated man, looking into the murky clowd represents physics. Sir Isaac Newton, originator of calculus, talks with students on the right." |  |
Geology and Biology:
"An old man symbolic of geology holds a card showing mineral crystals. Through a microscope a biologist studies life, with a chicken embryo, plant, and crab below. A man symbolizing paleontology shows a saber-toothed cat skull, with a fish skeleton below." |  |
Engineering:
"On the left, an ancient Egyptian stands before a pyramid, an impressive monument to ancient engineering. Two grappling figures represent forces within the earth associated with inevitable earthquakes which engineers must build to withstand. Modern engineering is represented by a surveyor and Hoover Dam." |  |
Ahmanson Hall of the Sky
To the left, in the wing that houses the coelostat, or sun telescope, new exhibits include a display on the spectrum of light and radiation. |  |
Galileo's telescope:
A replica of Galileo's first telescope, rendered in hand-tooled leather and glass |  |
Star charts:
A chart shows the relative sizes of stars, from earth's small yellow Sun to white dwarfs and gas giants |  |
Coelostat:
A peek in side the sun telescope shows things are still under renovation in preparation for the Nov. 3 opening. When operating, the device will project a safely viewable image of the sun into the gallery below the dome. |  |
Phases of the moon:
The gallery to the right (west) of the atrium contains wonderful displays that explain the rotation of the earth, the revolution of the planets around the sun and the phases of the moon, seen here. |  |
Hallway into the mountain:
Known as the "Cosmic Connection", this still-unfinished gallery represents the start of the Griffith Observatory expansion: At a cost of $93 million (a buck for every mile from here to the Sun!), workers basically hollowed 37,000 square feet of new exhibit, interactive and theater space out of the heart of the ridge on which the Observatory stands. Work was delayed for several months when part of the hillside began sliding and had to be shored up. |  |
Expansion model:
This scale model, which traveled around the country to help raise renovation/expansion funds, shows the areas that were added, including the Gunther Depths of Space gallery and the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon. |  |
Seasons:
This simple orrery shows how the earth's position in relation to the sun governs our seasons. |  |
Spectroscopic view:
At the far end of the west wing is a new exhibit devoted to the elements. This viewer lets you electrify krypton gas and observe it through a spectroscope. |  |
Periodic table:
This gorgeous display shows the periodic table of elements. |  |
Periodic table (detail):
A closeup. The quality of craftsmanship and detail in the museum's new exhibits is extremely high, right down to solid brass pushbuttons for all the interactive exhibits. |  |
Finishing touches:
Downstairs, workmen ready a sign for a small gallery devoted to asteroids, meteorites and other rogues of the solar systems. |  |
Meteorite:
This 280-pound chunk of iron and nickel fell into Arizona along with another 30 tons just like it, landing in what came to be known as the Barringer Meteorite Crater |  |
WHEN METEORITES ATTACK!
The curators had a little fun with this interpretive sign. |  |
IMPACT!
This game one of the cooler new displays: You design a meteorite (weight, composition), pick a target (Earth, Mars, etc.) and let it fly. "IMPACT!" then runs an animation showing what it would look like if, oh, say, an asteroid 1/4 of a kilometer across slammed into our home planet at 35 kilometers per second. A collapsed crater nearly 6 kilometers wide, that's what. |  |
Telescope mirror plug:
This 1,250-pound hunk of glass lay at the heart of the 200-inch Hale Telescope mirror that was ground for CalTech's Palomar Observatory. Manufacture took 11 years, at the end of which the plug was removed so light from the stars could pass through the telescope to the objective, or eyepiece. |  |
Unfinished work:
Workers and curators are scrambling to finish the exhibits. Everywhere, power panels lay exposed and you could hear men working and talking intently inside the new planetarium, which was closed to us. |  |
Leftover:
The old Zeiss Mark IV Projector, which served the planetarium for decades, now on display downstairs. |  |
Telescopes:
Two simple telescopes overlook scale models of Saturn and Jupiter atop the Gunther Depths of Space hall. |  |
Depths of Space:
This is a huge room, encompassing interactive exhibits on every planet in the solar system. The back wall (not shown) is a 152-foot-by-20-foot photograph depicting all the galaxies and stars you could hide from your own view with just the tip of your finger. |  |
Albert Einstein
This friendly bronze shows Einstein doing just that. |  |
Mars weight:
One of the more popular old observatory exhibits has been reborn and moved into this hall - scales showing you your weight on other planets |  |
Milky Way:
A huge 3-D sculpture of frosted glass shows the shape of the home galaxy, the Milky Way. Push a button and our Solar System appears as a tiny pinprick of red laser light. |  |
The Moon:
This scale model - painstakingly pockmarked with thousands of precisely mapped craters - spins in a back hallway. |  |
Cafe at the End of the Universe:
Wolfgang Puck caters here. Douglas Adams would probably have enjoyed the honor. |  |
Still under construction:
Don't even think of using this door yet. |  |
What it all means:
Somewhat but not quite entirely like Adams' Total Perspective Vortex, the Gottlieb Transit Corridor seeks to put us in our place, explaining the earth's relationship to the sun, the stars and various constellations. Workers here are finishing the Foil, which the Griffith Observatory site explains this way: Mounted at an angle on the top of the monolith, the foil is a thin, curving metal panel containing a six-inch, long-focal-length lens. As the Sun moves across the sky each day, the lens sharpens the Sun's light into a spot that moves across the walls and floor of the corridor. |  |
To the roof:
Views of the city, punctuated by copper-clad telescope domes and some of the finest WPA-era architecture in Los Angeles. |  |
This way:
A deco-industrial sign points toward the telescope dome. |  |
Telescope dome:
How much can be seen through the smog? |  |
Coelostat dome:
On the other end of the roof, the coelostat dome gets the same style of signage. |  |
Copper awaits:
Sheets of naked copper lie at the foot of the pendulum roof, ready for installation. |  |
Parapet:
Detail on the building's copper-clad parapet |  |
Atrium dome, view 1:
These photos show the atrium dome itself, also by Hugo Ballin. If anyone can provide information on each individual image in comments below, I'd be grateful. Thanks! |  |
Atrium dome, view 2:
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Atrium dome, view 3:
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Atrium dome, view 4:
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Atrium dome, view 5:
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Atrium dome, view 6:
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Atrium dome, view 7:
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