Griffith Observatory facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory, September 2006
Former names	Griffith
General information
Architectural style	Greco-Roman and Art Deco
Location	Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, United States
Coordinates	34°07′6″N 118°18′1.2″W / 34.11833°N 118.300333°W / 34.11833; -118.300333
Elevation	1,135 ft (346 m)
Construction started	June 20, 1933 (1933-06-20)
Inaugurated	May 14, 1935 (1935-05-14)
Client	Griffith Trust
Design and construction
Architect	John C. Austin Frederick M. Ashley
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
Designated:	November 17, 1976
Reference #:	168

The Griffith Observatory is a famous observatory in Los Angeles, California. It sits on the south side of Mount Hollywood inside Griffith Park. From here, you can see amazing views of the Los Angeles Basin, including Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, and even the Pacific Ocean.

The observatory is a very popular place for tourists. You can get a great view of the Hollywood Sign from here. It also has many cool exhibits about space and science. The observatory is named after Griffith J. Griffith, who gave the land and money for it. Since it opened in 1935, admission has always been free, just as he wanted.

More than 7 million people have looked through its large 12-inch (30.5 cm) Zeiss refractor telescope. This is more than any other telescope in the world! The inside of the building is also full of space-themed displays.

History of the Observatory

On December 16, 1896, Griffith J. Griffith gave over 3,000 acres (12 km²) of land to the City of Los Angeles. In his will, he also left money to build an observatory, an exhibit hall, and a planetarium on this land. Griffith wanted everyone to be able to learn about astronomy, not just scientists. He believed observatories shouldn't be only on faraway mountaintops.

Griffith worked with famous astronomers like Walter Sydney Adams and George Ellery Hale to plan the observatory. Construction started on June 20, 1933. It was part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, which created jobs during the Great Depression. Architects John C. Austin and Frederic Morse Ashley designed the building.

The observatory and its exhibits opened to the public on May 14, 1935. It was the third planetarium in the United States. In its first five days, over 13,000 people visited!

The building mixes Greek and Beaux-Arts styles. Its outside has a cool Greek key pattern. During World War II, the planetarium helped train pilots to navigate by the stars. In the 1960s, it was used again to train Apollo program astronauts for their trips to the Moon.

Supporting the Observatory

The Griffith Observatory Foundation started in 1978. It was first called "Friends Of The Observatory." This group helps the observatory teach people about astronomy. They also supported the big renovation and expansion of the building. They continue to promote science education and hands-on astronomy experiences.

Updates and New Spaces

The observatory closed on January 6, 2002, for a big renovation and expansion. It reopened on November 2, 2006. The outside still looks like its original Art Deco style. The renovation cost $93 million, mostly paid for by public money. It fixed up the building and replaced the old planetarium dome.

They also added new exhibit spaces underground. These new areas include a café, a gift shop, and the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater. On May 25, 2008, the Observatory showed live coverage of the Phoenix spacecraft landing on Mars. Ed Krupp has been the director of the Observatory since 1974. He has helped update the technology and the building for over 45 years.

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  Side view of the Observatory in 2007 after renovations

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  Griffith Observatory during dawn

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  Griffith Observatory and downtown LA skyline

Explore the Exhibits

When the observatory first opened in 1935, visitors saw the Foucault pendulum. This pendulum shows how the Earth spins. Other exhibits included a 12-inch (305mm) Zeiss refracting telescope and a solar telescope. There was also a large model of the Moon's north pole.

Griffith wanted the observatory to show how life evolved. So, they had an exhibit called Cosmochron, which included a story and slides about evolution. This exhibit was there from 1937 to the mid-1960s.

Griffith Observatory Planetarium photographed around 1937–1939

The original design also included a planetarium under the big central dome. Early shows taught visitors about the Moon, planets in our Solar System, and eclipses. In 1964, the planetarium theater was updated with a new Zeiss projector.

A model showing the underground exhibit spaces added during the 2002-2006 renovations

The Café at the End of the Universe is a fun place to eat. It's named after a famous science fiction book! One wall inside the building has "The Big Picture." This is the largest accurate image of space ever made, showing the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. It's 152 feet (46 meters) long and 20 feet (6 meters) high! You can look at it up close or through telescopes 60 feet (18 meters) away.

In 2006, the old planetarium projector was replaced with a new Zeiss Mark IX Universarium. The old projector is now part of an underground exhibit.

The "Centered in the Universe" show uses a special laser system to project high-resolution videos. It also has a night sky simulation. Actors perform the show, which lasts 30 minutes. You need to buy tickets for this show separately.

Griffith Observatory rotunda ceiling

The observatory has six main sections:

• The Wilder Hall of the Eye: This area focuses on how telescopes and other tools help us see into space. It has cool interactive displays like a Tesla coil and a "Camera Obscura."
• The Ahmanson Hall of the Sky: This part teaches you about things we see in the sky, like the Sun and Moon. It has a large solar telescope that projects images of the Sun. You can also learn about elements, stars, seasons, and Moon phases.
• The W. M. Keck Foundation Central Rotunda: This main area has beautiful murals on the ceiling and walls. It also features the famous Foucault pendulum that shows the Earth spinning. There's a small exhibit about Griffith J. Griffith, who the observatory is named after.
• The Cosmic Connection: This long hallway connects the main building to the underground exhibits. It shows the history of the universe, from the Big Bang until today. It uses hundreds of small, astronomy-themed jewelry pieces to show the vast amount of time.
• The Gunther Depths of Space Hall: This is the lower level, where you'll find "The Big Picture" galaxy image. It also has scale models of the Solar System. You can see how big the planets are compared to the Sun. There's even a bronze statue of Albert Einstein sitting on a bench!
• The Edge of Space Mezzanine: This area looks down on the Depths of Space Hall. It focuses on space objects closer to Earth. You can see meteorites, try an asteroid impact simulator, and look at "The Big Picture" through telescopes.

The Amazing Tesla Coil

A Tesla coil at the Observatory

The Observatory has a huge Tesla coil on display. It's named after its inventor, Nikola Tesla. This coil, called "GPO-1," was built in 1910 by Earle Ovington. He built high-voltage generators for medical X-ray machines. His public demonstrations of these machines, with their amazing sparks, drew huge crowds.

Ovington designed this coil to make sparks over ten feet long! It was shown at an electrical show in Madison Square Garden. The lights would turn off, and huge sparks would shoot from the copper ball on top of the coil. Engineers estimated the sparks were at least 1.3 million volts!

Ovington gave the Tesla coils to his friend Frederick Finch Strong, who then donated them to Griffith Observatory in 1937. The Observatory only had room for one. Staff, with help from Hollywood special effects expert Kenneth Strickfaden (who worked on Frankenstein), restored it.

Astronomers Monument

Astronomers Monument, located in front of the Observatory's north door

In front of the Observatory, there's a monument called the Astronomers Monument. It honors six of the greatest astronomers in history:

• Hipparchus (around 150 BC)
• Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543)
• Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
• Johannes Kepler (1571–1630)
• Isaac Newton (1642–1727)
• William Herschel (1738–1822)

This monument was created in 1934 by six local artists. It has an armillary sphere on top.

Visiting the Observatory

Road leading up to the Observatory where additional parking is available.

It's free to enter the Griffith Observatory building and its grounds. Planetarium shows are offered many times a day, and there's a small fee for tickets.

If the weather is good, the Observatory offers free public telescope viewing every night it's open. This usually starts at 7:00 p.m. You can look through the historic 12-inch Zeiss Refracting Telescope on the roof. There are also portable telescopes outside for viewing different celestial objects.

There's a small parking lot right next to the Observatory. More parking is available along Western Canyon Road, but you have to pay by the hour. During busy times, the roads can get crowded.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) runs a low-cost public bus service called DASH Observatory. It goes from the Vermont/Sunset Metro Red Line station directly to the Observatory. It also stops at the nearby Greek Theater, where you can park for free if there are no concerts. From the Greek Theater, you can walk up to the observatory or take the bus. The walk takes about 15–20 minutes. The observatory is closed on Mondays.

Los Angeles skyline at night with buildings lit up as seen from rooftop of Griffith Observatory

The Observatory is a fantastic spot for photos and enjoying the scenery. You can see the Pacific Ocean, the famous Hollywood Sign, and the sparkling lights of Downtown Los Angeles.

Filming Location

The observatory has been featured in many movies and TV shows. It became an international symbol of Los Angeles after appearing in the James Dean film Rebel Without a Cause (1955). A statue of James Dean is even on the grounds.

It has also appeared in other movies, including:

The Observatory has also been seen in many TV shows, such as:

Other Media Appearances

• The song "Observatory Crest" by Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band is about spending a romantic evening at the observatory.
• It was a filming location for the music video for "Rush Rush" (1991) by Paula Abdul, which starred Keanu Reeves.
• Linkin Park performed a concert at the Observatory in 2010.
• The cover photos for The Byrds' album Untitled (1970) were taken on the observatory staircase.
• In the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V, there's a place called Galileo Observatory that looks like Griffith Observatory.
• In the 2023 video game Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores, the observatory is a headquarters for a billionaire.

See also

• Don Dixon – Observatory Art Director
• Laura Danly – Observatory Curator
• Los Angeles Historic–Cultural Monuments in Hollywood and Los Feliz
• Fabra Observatory – Spanish observatory on a hill overlooking a metropolis