A beautiful building that brings the beauty of the stars to Earth. Every year millions of people make the trip up Mount Hollywood to visit the Griffith Observatory. From here there is a stunning view of Los Angeles which has been used in a number of films. If you'd like to make a film of your own here, you can rent the observatory for about $3,000.00 but there are some major restrictions. Griffith Observatory is named after Colonel Griffith J. Griffith who donated the money for the observatory. He did so after getting a chance to glimpse the heavens through the telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory. After his death, Griffith Park and the Greek Theatre were donated to the city, and as specified in his will, an observatory was built atop a great science museum. All are run as free services for the public. The main attraction here is the Zeiss planetarium projector. It weighs one ton and was built in 1964 in what was then West Germany. The Zeiss is able to project 9,000 stellar objects onto the observatory's 75-foot dome. There is also a 12-inch Zeiss refracting telescope (which cost $14,900.00 in 1931), and two solar telescopes. The Zeiss factory in Jena was destroyed by Allied bombs during the second World War. But the telescopes live on, housed under large the copper domes of the Griffith Observatory. Another piece of science presents itself in the building's architecture: The center cupola is home to the 40-foot-tall Foucault pendulum. Inside, the cupola is decorated with murals depicting great figures and moments in science. The best views of Los Angeles are from the roof, and unlike most buildings, to get there you have to climb the stairs outside.
There is a bronze bust of James Dean on the western lawn because part of Rebel Without a Cause was filmed at the observatory.
A World War II periscope donated by the U.S Navy pokes 22 feet out of the top of the science center.
