Compelling talks followed by picnicking and convivial stargazing through both the big telescopes.
Come enjoy an inspiring night on the mountain! The evening begins with the talk at 5:30 in our Auditorium, followed by observing through both the 60- and 100-inch telescopes from dusk to 11:30PM — the two largest telescopes in the world available for public use. Additional stargazing around the grounds will be available from members of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society. Food will be available for purchase from a food truck, or bring your own picnic!
Panel: Blaine Baggett, Moderator, Dr. John Trauger and Dr. James Fanson, Speakers
Topic: The Triumph of Hubble
TICKETS: $50
Mount Wilson continues its year-long tribute to the centennial of Edwin Hubble’s discovery of a universe beyond the Milky Way with first-hand accounts and accompanying documentary footage of how the Hubble Space Telescope was saved — and produced some of the most stunning images of the universe ever made. “The Triumph of the Hubble Space Telescope” will be presented in the Observatory’s Auditorium at 5:30 pm.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Dr John Trauger and Dr James Fanson and moderator Blaine Baggett will recount Edwin Hubble’s profound discoveries using the 100-inch Hooker telescope, the ensuing ambitions of astronomers to create space-based telescopes, and how the Hubble Space Telescope came to realize those dreams – although not right away. To the dismay of astronomers, Hubble’s “first light” images in 1990 were shockingly blurry. The crisis that ensued turned JPL scientist John Trauger into a science detective who helped uncover the source of the problem (a tiny flaw in the space telescope’s primary mirror) and who was then among those who offered up a possible solution: create corrective lenses to be built into a brand-new camera to be installed by astronauts. Easily said; not easily done.
This enormous technical challenge with its intense schedule fell to a JPL team that included a young engineer named Jim Fanson who played a critical role when he was thrown in the fray.
Now, three decades later, Trauger and Fanson will tell personal stories about the rescue and share their favorite Hubble images.
Dr. John Trauger is a Senior Research Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He served as Principal Investigator for Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 instrument. His research has emphasized planetary astronomy via novel interferometric methods for spectroscopy, spectral imaging, and coronagraphy. He has developed mission concepts and key coronagraph and wavefront control technologies for the direct imaging of exoplanet systems. He contributes to the development of the Nancy Grace Roman space observatory as well as follow-on space mission concepts.
Dr. James Fanson is a project manager of the SPHEREx mission at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the first all-sky infrared spectroscopic survey, set to launch in early 2025. He was a member of the team that restored the optical performance of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993. He was observatory manager during the design of the Spitzer Space Telescope and project manager of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer and Kepler space telescope missions. He also served as Project manager of the Keck interferometer.
Blaine Baggett is a former JPL Fellow and past Director of JPL’s Office of Communication and Education. He is a national Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentarian whose space-related documentaries include Spaceflight, The Astronomers, John Glenn: American Hero, and JPL and the Space Age. He was one of 40 finalists for NASA’s First Journalist in Space program, a competition suspended following the loss of the space shuttle Challenger.