Griffith Observatory

The Griffith Observatory is located on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park. The observatory exhibits an extensive array of space and science-related displays and provides commanding views of the Los Angeles Basin.

Over 7 million people have had the opportunity to view space through the 12-inch Zeiss refractor telescope, since the Observatory’s 1935 opening.

In 1896, 3,015 acres (12.20 km2) of land surrounding the observatory was donated to the City of Los Angeles to build an observatory, exhibit hall, and planetarium on the donated land. Griffith J. Griffith’s, an industrialist and philanthropist, made the donation intending to make astronomy accessible to the public.

The observatory and accompanying exhibits were opened to the public in 1935, as America’s third planetarium. The building combines Greek and Beaux-Arts influences, and the art deco exterior is embellished with the Greek key pattern.

During World War II, the planetarium was used to train pilots in celestial navigation. The planetarium was again used for this purpose in the 1960s to train Apollo program astronauts for the first lunar missions.

In 2006, the observatory was significantly expanded with an underground expansion and entirely new exhibits, including the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater.

The observatory was split up into six sections:

The Wilder Hall of the Eye
The Hall of the Sky
The Central Rotunda
The Cosmic Connection
The Gunther Depths of Space Hall
The Edge of Space Mezzanine

Highlights of the Griffith Observatory

Planetarium shows at the Observatory
Public Telescope Viewing
The historic Zeiss Telescope on the roof
Views of the Pacific Ocean, the Hollywood Sign, and Downtown Los Angeles
A large Tesla coil, dubbed “GPO-1” – built in 1910
The Depths of Space Hall
Meteorite displays
“The Big Picture” – a 150 feet (46 m) by 20 feet (6.1 m) photograph, the largest astronomical image in the world
A bronze statue of Albert Einstein sitting on a bench
The Cosmic Connection hallway
The Big Bang Exhibit
A Foucault pendulum that demonstrates the Earth’s rotation
A “Camera Obscura” Exhibit
Astronomical Tools Exhibit with telescopes and how they evolved over time