Blog Post 3: Josie Tiffany


Sitting on the top of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Mount Wilson Observatory is a 100 year old telescope with a historical past that have made pivotal significance in the astronomical field of science.  Founded in 1904 by the astrophysicists, George Hale, a plethora of scientific theories have been developed in such a location but the most profound accomplishments include the finding of the speed of light as well as the revolutionizing idea that our universe is expanding along with the existence of multiple galaxies.  In the year of 1923, Edwin Hubble utilized a telescope mirror in order to debunk the conception that spiral nebulas were simply clusters of mass light, instead it was what we now know as the Andromeda Galaxy that extends upon the reach of the milky way. In addition, he founded that our universe is expanding through the process of measuring the luminosity of light as it decreases at an extraordinarily fast rate.  Another startling discovery was founded by female astronomer, Henrietta Levitt, who used the Cepheid variables to measure the distance of nebulae. Previously this method was impossible due to the fact that the nebulae were in too far distances for exact measurement to be possible, there was no way of knowing if they were within the Milky Way, and the size of the nebulae was unknown. Despite having so many unanswered questions, Leavitt was able to discover distinct pattern with Cepheids where “the brighter the Cepheid, the longer its cycle”.  Her discovery revolutionized the astrophysics realm in that it is now used as a modern measurement for distance between stars.
The history of this century-old landmark is fundamental as well as awe-inspiring due to the many discoveries made on this site as well as the individuals who made such discoveries utilizing such an artifact.

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