Event Two
        For event two, I went to the Griffith Observatory to find art behind the science of space. The main entrance welcomes you with a giant swaying 240-pound bronze pendulum which one naturally follows the cable suspending it to the ceiling. Purposely, this focuses the visitor’s attention to the beautiful mural by Hugo Ballin (completed in 1934) which covers the entire octagon dome ceiling.  The mural contains a representation of each planet as a god, and the twelve constellations of the zodiac with other space motivated art. The zodiac symbols are drawn as mystical figures, animals, and humans. The mural is quite large, which makes it difficult to take in all at once, but the art moves to smaller panels right below it. At the edge of each octagon side the art continues through the walls below the dome. The geometric foundation roots can originate from Peit Mondrian who uses shapes to create his art. This mural contains math and science influences to demonstrate human interaction with space. The eight panels are a sequence displaying how the fascination of astronomy has evolved throughout time. It contains an image of an Aztec, Chinese, and gradually moves to a modern sky observer. This frame shows how humans have always been interested in space throughout our lifetime. The seven remaining sides express the advancement of science in astronomy, aeronautics, navigation, mathematics, physics, electricity, metallurgy, geology, biology, and engineering.

As the human race moved forward, so did technology. The time of viewing the sky with the naked eye will come to end by technological devices such as the telescope. In 1609 a famous astronomer Galileo Galilei, developed his own model to observe and eventually began to map the stars and planets. The photo below is a replica model of what he created. 
The new discoveries of planets and stars pushed for the advancement of higher resolutions telescopes to what we have today that can photograph images from light years away. From a simple telescope, our civilization have used robotics, artist, and engineers to create massive telescopes to explore space. The picture below is an example of a 14 ton, 40 inch wide glass that belonged to an old model telescope. The glass piece is cut by a robotic arm and used in the center of the mirror to view distant stars and galaxies.


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