profdant139 wrote:
It's too depressing to go to Griffith Park to see the stars -- it requires a long struggle across the entire LA basin, and then when you get there, there are hordes of people and not enough parking, and then the sky is so light-polluted that you can't even see Polaris.
The night sky has been MIA from Griffith for many decades but the main attraction there is not really live viewing but other displays at the historical facility. I still enjoy visiting there, just not observing. My hat's off to the Los Angeles Astronomical Society for doing regular public star parties at the venue. There are wide and narrow band filters that can remove SOME of the light pollution frequencies, enabling viewing of some deep space objects, but it's still far from ideal.
The dome of light from the Los Angeles metro area has even rendered the Mt. Wilson Observatory mostly useless for anything but solar science and public viewing. Our astronomy club has booked a night of viewing on the 60" telescope every year for over a decade. The first time I went, on a moonless night, they opened the dome and I said, "When does it get dark?" The docent replied, "This is as good as it gets." Unfortunately, because of the light pollution at Mt. Wilson, viewing is far better through our 14" and 11" SCT's and 12" dobsonian from our home near Tehachapi.
Mt. Wilson has just completed modifications to the 100" Hooker Telescope to enable it for public viewing. We have a 1/2 night (Sunset till 0100) booked on the 100" in October ($2700 for up to 18 people), and I can't wait to see how it goes. The 100" is further from the rim so it should be a little more protected from the LA lights plus it has 40 more inches of aperture.
Still, the most exciting thing about being at Mt. Wilson is the historical equipment and knowing that you're walking in the footsteps of George Ellery Hale, Edwin Hubble, and other pioneering greats of astronomy.
