Carnegie Observatories
Carnegie Observatories is an Astronomy research institute in Pasadena, founded by George Ellery Hale in 1904 as the Mt. Wilson Observatory. The Observatories are part of the Carnegie Institution for Science, an organization established to support scientific research in multiple fields. Mt. Wilson has played host to several important discoveries, in particular the size of the Universe and its expansion asdiscovered by Edwin Hubble, a Carnegie Astronomer. Carnegie's current observing facilities are located in Chile, at Las Campanas Observatory and include the twin 6.5m Magellan telescopes. Carnegie is also partnered with several other organizations in building the next generation 24m Giant Magellan Telescope at Las Campanas.
The Observatories campus in Pasadena hosts about 65 scientific, support, and technical staff in residence and is home to a historical library and photographic plate collection as well as state-of-the art machine shop, electronics and instrumentation labs. Carnegie Astronomers' only responsibility is to carry out research and their work covers a range of topics including galaxy formation and evolution, the size and expansion rate of the Universe, chemical evolution of stars and planets, stellar variability, supernovae and more. Carnegie research includes complex theoretical modelling and observations with cutting edge instruments, some of which are designed and built by Carnegie scientists in Pasadena. The Observatories are also active in the Southern California community, hosting lectures, an annual open house and working with local schools through a variety of outreach activities.
