100th Anniversary of Solar Telescope at Mt. Wilson
Built From Battleship-Grade Steel, with the Best View of Southern California, 60-Foot Tower Has Been Revealing the Sun’s Secrets for a Century
What: A rare, media-only opportunity to explore the Mt. Wilson Observatory’s 60-Foot Tower, a solar telescope never included in public tours. It is the oldest operational telescope at the world-famous site, which was originally called the Mt. Wilson Solar Observatory.
On June 25, 1908, Mt. Wilson founder George Ellery Hale used the tower to discover magnetic fields around the sun — the first magnetism detected anywhere outside Earth and the first evidence that the sunspot cycle, which has a dramatic influence on Earth’s temperature, is magnetically driven.
Operated by USC, the tower celebrates its 100th anniversary of continuous operation this year.
USC astronomers now are working to understand and predict the solar sunspot cycle — and its effect on Earth’s temperature — by measuring the motion of gas inside the sun.
Visuals:
- Stunning views from the top of the tower, more than 5,000 feet above Los Angeles (reporters/photographers must be willing to climb stairs to an exposed platform high above Mt. Wilson)
- A large photograph of the sun, with sunspots clearly visible, next to a ball-bearing representing the relative size of the Earth
- A tour of the image room
Who:
- Ed Rhodes, professor of astronomy in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and principal investigator of the 60-Foot Solar Tower Telescope of the Mt. Wilson Observatory
- Don Nicholson, president of the Mount Wilson Observatory Association
When: 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 25. Tour begins promptly.
Where: Mt. Wilson Observatory parking lot. Take the Angeles Crest highway from La Canada into the Angeles National Forest, and follow the signs to Mt. Wilson.
More: Space is limited. RSVP to marziali@usc.edu.
Contact: Carl Marziali at (213) 740-4751 or marziali@usc.edu
