Griffith Observatory

Found high above the Hollywood Hills, Griffith Observatory is an icon of Los Angeles and one of southern California's most popular attractions. The land on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park was donated to the City of Los Angeles by Colonel Griffith J. Griffith in 1896. His objective was to make astronomy accessible to the public and as the millions of visitors over the years show, he succeeded in his laudable aim.Instantly an LA icon thanks to its three copper-cladded domes, the observatory and exhibits were opened to the public in 1935, and in its first five days after opening, the observatory received more than 13,000 visitors. The Observatory has played a leading role in many films including The Terminator, Rebel Without a Cause and Jurassic Park. It has also made a major contribution to space exploration in 1961 the Apollo astronauts trained under the stars in Griffith Observatory's planetarium.After years of renovations costing US$93 million, the Observatory reopened in 2006 with a new 300 seat planetarium dome, expanded buildings and new exhibits. One wall inside the building is covered with the largest astronomically accurate image ever constructed called "The Big Picture" depicting the Virgo Cluster of galaxies visitors can explore the highly detailed image. In addition to exhibition halls with more than 60 space-related displays, the observatory has the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon, a multimedia theatre which holds 4 shows a day. Hopefully on your visit you will have a clear day so you can scan the stars with the Zeiss refracting telescope, solar telescopes and other instruments available for public use. Young and old will be dazzled by the clear views of the moon, planets and other objects in the solar system through a variety of telescopes.Griffith Observatory is about 13 kilometres north of downtown. It is open Tuesday to Sunday but is closed on most holidays. Admission is free, in line with Colonel Griffiths' wishes.