Firefighters Battle To Save LA’s Historic Mount Wilson Observatory

Enlarge this image

A view facing east from the Mount Wilson Observatory near Los Angeles shows the nearby flames of the Bobcat Fire early Wednesday.

Screenshot by NPR/HPWREN

hide caption

toggle caption

Screenshot by NPR/HPWREN

Dramatic time-lapse photos taken from the observatory showed the fire glowing orange south and east of Mount Wilson early Wednesday morning.

Tom Meneghini, executive director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, said in an email to NPR on Wednesday afternoon that he understands there will soon be «some major retardant and water drops on the section threatening the observatory.»

Another "Martian" morning on the mountain. We hope today is filled with water and retardant drops as well as safety for the fire crews. #BobcatFire pic.twitter.com/KM8mS61b43

— Mount Wilson Observatory (@MtWilsonObs) September 16, 2020

Kerri Gilliland of California Interagency Management Team 1 said Wednesday morning that the lines had held against the fire overnight, but increased activity south and southeast of Mount Wilson continues to be a threat.

Authorities said that dry fuels continue to be a risk factor, and increased fire activity over the next couple days is expected. In the nearby Cooper Canyon area, air tankers have been deployed to help contain a large spot fire north of Highway 2.

The Hooker telescope dome at the Mount Wilson Observatory, circa 1921.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The same dry, isolated conditions that make Mount Wilson susceptible to wildfires are the same ones that made it perfect for stargazing, as LAist/KPCC’s Jacob Margolis reported:

» ‘Effectively [Edwin] Hubble discovered the universe in the 1920s up on Mt. Wilson,’ said John Mulchaey, director of the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, which owns the observatory.

«Scientists had long believed that the Milky Way was just about all there was to the universe.

«Then, in the early 1920s, Hubble focused the Mt. Wilson telescope on what was thought to be gas or matter floating through the Milky Way. Through a series of complex calculations, he figured out that it wasn’t dust, but an entire galaxy of its own, specifically the Andromeda galaxy.

«He’d continue to discover other galaxies throughout the 1920s, eventually making another big finding in 1929: that the universe was expanding.»

As the lights of Los Angeles grew brighter, the observatory became a less ideal place for viewing the heavens.

When there isn’t a wildfire or a pandemic, the observatory is open to the public for visits and celestial viewing through its telescopes.

• California wildfires