Mt. Wilson Observatory: Updated: 9/3/2009: The observatory has escaped serious damage although 40 ongoing research projects will have to be rescheduled, and all the delicate equipment will have to be checked for soot and dust damage. Some scientists had been waiting more than a year for observing time reports the LA Times.
Updated: 9/2/2009 Mount Wilson "is still in good shape" said Incident Commander Dietrich at a briefing this morning. The Californian fire brigades are reporting that the observatory should be safe for the time being.
Previous Report 9/1/2009
US Forest Servie Fire Dispatch has informed Hal McAlister, director of the Mt Wilson Observatory that as of 9:40 PDT this morning, ground crews were back at the Observatory. As of 8:00 am, air tankers were back in operation.
The dispatcher expressed his opinion that as long as the fire continues to press the mountain from one direction "you are going to make it."Furthermore, there is some light rain developing in places in the Los Angeles basin, and there is a possibility for some thunderstorm activity that could lead to dry lightning. The humidity is up and the temperature is a bit lower, so, all in all, things are looking more promising than they have in the last few days.
View from the observatory as of noon (PDT), Tuesday 1 September.
The latest news can be found here.
Meanwhile, the LA Times takes a look back at the history of the Mt. Wilson observatory. Astronomer Edwin Hubble for example, used the then-groundbreaking 100-inch Hooker telescope, to make two of the most surprising scientific discoveries of the 20th century: The universe was far larger than anyone imagined and that it was expanding.
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