Mt. Wilson, JPL Threatened by Fire | Universe Today: "Wildfires burning in southern California are threatening the historic Mt. Wilson Observatory and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Overnight, the fire size more than doubled, and as of this writing over 85,000 acres have burned. The situation looks better this morning for JPL, but Mt. Wilson, which also is home to several communication towers, is still in danger. Firefighters have vowed to do everything they can to save it. The fires have been fueled by hot, dry weather, but one resident who had to evacuate his home shared with me that the fire has spread with minimal winds, and the situation would be even worse with windy conditions."
Comment -- Mt. Wilson is where Edwin Hubble made the observations that led to the discovery that the Universe is expanding. (Now, of course, we know that not only is the Universe expanding -- the expansion is accelerating!)
You can learn more about the fire's threat to Mt. Wilson by following Peter Plavchan's Facebook page. Peter works for JPL and was in Rory and Vanessa's wedding two years ago.
Mt. Stromlo Observatory in Australia burned down in a forest fire in 2002.
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