We were off for an adventure in LA on Tuesday night. We stopped at Carl’s Jr to learn a little about physics. If you try to eat the Six Dollar Jalapeno Cheese burger you will not be able to finish your fries. From there it was off to the observatory to learn a little more.
As we arrived there was a little crisis. Eric could not get cell phone coverage. Then there was celebration, he had coverage. Another 40 feet and he did not have coverage. It seemed to be one of the topics of discussion all evening. While the discussion of cell phone reception was being bantered about, I was admiring the architecture. I really liked the painted ceiling when we entered the observatory.
The Ballin Ceiling Mural at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles
One of the first stops was the Dark Side of the Moon. Eric and Michale were caught on camera studying the dark side of the moon. Perhaps they were looking for Pink Floyd?
Can you find Mr. Floyd on the Dark Side of this Moon?
The next stop was for the boys to spend a little time with Albert. I was hoping something would rub off on Eric. His excitement was overwhelming. After Albert we went to a display of the planets in the solar system. Below each planet was a place to weigh yourself with the gravitational pull of that planet. Some scales were nicer than others.
Rubbing shoulders with Mr. Eienstien
After a few more exhibits, the place to look was the periodic table. In each box was an example of the ore, or natural state of the element and the refined state. I was disappointed that there was no Californium. Of course Eric caught that they were missing the Plutonium as well.
It is all Elemental
Next was the large Tesla Coil. It buzzes and shot out some good lighting like zaps. The boys had fun watching it.
Tesla Coil
From there it was up to the roof to get a look through the telescope. On the way up the roof Michael was taking a picture of the city so I took a picture of him taking a picture.
LA
Once to the telescope, the planet for the night was Jupiter. We learned about some of the moons of Jupiter and then looked through the telescope. It was amazing to see the striations on the planet, a planet that was so far away. After Jupiter – we were back on our way home.
