Caption: Fire is currently burning in the West fork of the San Gabriel River near Cogswell Dam, up at Chilao Flats, the south face of both Waterman Mtn. and Twin Peaks, in the Sulphur Springs area, and in regions of the San Gabriel Wilderness area. The historic Vetter Mtn Fire Lookout is gone - I can only see a flagpole and hand rail left standing. (LW)Click to view the full size image.
This is not the only problem the observatory is facing. The repairs needed, combined with safety upgrades, will cost quite a bit of money:
Fire Recovery Appeal - Mount Wilson Observatory is operated by the Mount Wilson Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation registered in California with offices on the Georgia State University campus in Atlanta. Our income derives primarily from site fees paid by the scientific projects here and some outreach activities. In normal years there are budget shortfalls that we cover out of a slowly diminishing reserve.
As a result of the events of the still active Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest, we are going to be sorely pressed for resources to take care of cleanup and further preparation and mitigation activities. If you are interested in helping us with the process of transitioning back to normal operations, we welcome your tax-deductible donation in any amount. Donations can be sent to: The Mount Wilson Institute, Fire Recovery Program, P.O. Box 1909, Atlanta, GA 30301-1909.
Fire Recovery Appeal - Mount Wilson Observatory
The link goes on to explain what it is they're fixing and upgrading. So, if you have a few bucks to throw their way ...
Meanwhile, I've been trying to find more NASA images, and haven't found any featured on their website. Here's the MODIS image from today:
Caption: Smoke from wildfires is still visible in this portion of the 250m/pixel image from the "Terra" Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite.Click to view the full size image.
Image credit: MODIS satellite image portion cropped by Cujo359
As you can see, there's somewhat less smoke than there was on Wednesday, but there's still quite a bit of smoke. The red outlines represent higher than expected heat signatures. The things aren't out yet.
2 comments:
At least it's still standing. Huzzah!
Yes, and apparently they offer to rent out the 60 inch telescope on occasion. So there's yet another way to support the observatory.
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