ReillyFDESMA9: GRIFFITH

I went to the observatory on May 24^th with my good friend Sierra. We went around dusk, which was perfect timing because we were able to see the whole city, then sunset, and also when it was dark and we could see all the stars as well as lights from the city. I was shocked at the amount of people that were there. We first walked in and went downstairs to the deep space and edge of space exhibits. Walking down, I liked the cosmic connection exhibit, which was the timeline of the universe since the big bang but displayed with jewels and broaches. It really put how little time life on Earth has been around into perspective.

We also looked at meteorites and comets. It was fascinating to see that on the map of California there were large meteorites near my home around Sacramento and I was even more surprised to see how many there were around Southern California. I also found it interesting that there were the most meteors in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas but bordering states like Nevada, Utah and Colorado had so few comparatively because the distance between them isn’t that great. I also learned about the three main types of meteorites; Stony, Stony-Iron, and Iron.

The exhibit on asteroids was also impressive because they are made of some of the oldest materials in the solar system and some have not even changed since they were born and then come to Earth. I also didn’t know that some asteroids are volcanically active, it is like a flying volcano shooting through the sky.

It was also fun to play with all of the planets in the solar system and experiment with weight and gravity on each and compare them. I enjoyed the other worlds other stars section of the exhibit because I had just been learning about them in one of my other classes.

We also explored the Hall of the Sky exhibit, which was also fun. There was an exhibit about the moon phases and a model that showed the moon rotating around the Earth overhead to better understand its phases. We also looked at the Sun’s path in the summer versus the winter and seasons in general. We also looked at lunar and solar eclipses. The overhead model that spun around in an orbit was very helpful to see how each orbit and rotation of the three objects interacted with one another to create each of the eclipses.

We also looked at an exhibit about stars, including main sequence stars, red giants, white dwarfs, and our Sun. There was a large 3D Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram with different sizes and colors of stars to illustrate the wide spectrum of stars in our universe. The exhibit also talked about the Sun, and how its nuclear fusion makes it shine. It also discussed the lifetime of high mass, low mass and medium-mass stars from their formation until their death.

In the same hall there was a large, colorful periodic table of the elements. It reminded me of how we are all stars because we are all made of stars. There was also a spectroscope to show the different absorption and emission lines of elements. You could compare the spectrums and conclude if there was a Doppler shift or which elements were present in a certain star. We also explored around outside and looked at the stars and skyline, which was gorgeous.

I think that my favorite part was the Hall of the Sky. I think the most fun exhibit was the planets part of the deep space exhibit because it was the most interactive and fun to play with. The prettiest exhibit was the sky itself, at dusk, sunset, and at nighttime. The skyline of the city, the sunset over the Hollywood sign and the stars in the clear sky were all stunning.

The whole experience was humbling, and reminds you of how small you are in the whole scheme of things, but also to be grateful for the whole universe and all that it gives us, like the pretty sunsets and stars in the night sky.