MWO Presents its 1st “Talks & Telescopes” of the season w/ Dr. Phil Korngut

Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO), Southern California’s esteemed home to over 100 years of groundbreaking astronomical discovery, welcomes the public to its first Saturday Evening Talks & Telescopes of the season, taking place on Saturday, May 10, 2025. The event runs from 5:30pm to 11:45pm with the “talk” portion of the evening beginning in the Observatory’s Auditorium. MWO is honored to present a lecture by Caltech’s Dr. Phil Korngut, SPHEREx Instrument Scientist, entitled “The Saga of SPHEREx: NASA’s All-Sky Spectroscopic Mapping Machine.” The lecture will tell the story of NASA’s SPHEREx, providing insight into what it takes to build a space telescope. Tickets are available here: https://www.mtwilson.edu/events/talk051025 During the six-month season, each Talks & Telescopes presentation starts out in the Observatory’s Auditorium, followed by picnic dining—bring your own or purchase from a food truck or caterer (cash is a safer bet due to frequent cell phone reception issues)—and then stargazing through Mount Wilson’s immense telescopes, the largest in the world made available to the public, after the sun goes down. Gourmet Genie’s food truck will ascend the mountain for May’s epicurean adventure. Additional stargazing around the grounds will be available thanks to members from the Los Angeles Astronomical Society. Both the 60-inch telescope and the 100-inch (the telescope on which Edwin Hubble discovered our expanding universe) will be available for viewing the night sky. Priced at $50, this event series offers the most economical stargazing event option on the mountain. Tickets and more information are available on Mount Wilson Observatory’s website here: https://www.mtwilson.edu/lectures. Advance purchases are highly recommended. “The Saga of SPHEREx: NASA’s All-Sky Spectroscopic Mapping Machine” SPHEREx is NASA’s newest space telescope, launched on March 11, 2025. Having just completed its commissioning phase, the telescope is now fully operational and surveying the sky from low Earth orbit. Over the course of its two-year baseline mission, it will deliver a first-of-its-kind dataset, containing not only imaging of every position in the night sky, but also information-rich spectroscopy in the infrared. SPHEREx’s design was optimized to tackle three fundamental astrophysics goals: to build a three-dimensional map of the large-scale structure of the Universe and probe the period of inflation following the big bang; to explore galaxy evolution by studying the total light production throughout cosmic history; and to survey the plane of our Milky Way, conducting a census of life-enabling water ice embedded in the dust grains of interstellar clouds. This lecture, presented from the perspective of the mission’s instrument scientist, Dr. Phil Korngut, will tell the life story of SPHEREx—from its design phase and integration efforts in Pasadena, to its dramatic launch and commissioning campaigns—offering an inside look at what it takes to build a space telescope. SPHEREx’s journey in cosmic cartography is now underway, and this talk will offer a preview of its tantalizing first light spectral images, revealing the extraordinary potential of this new NASA telescope. VISITING MWO The gate to Mount Wilson’s campus opens at 10:00am daily and closes at 5:00pm from early April through November. Entrance to the grounds is free. Visitors can hike, gaze at the telescope domes and towers that dot the landscape, and take a look at historic Mount Wilson photos and letters in the Museum. The Cosmic Café, located above the main parking lot at the Observatory entrance, is open on weekends in the spring, summer, and fall. In addition to traditional menu items such as hot dogs, drinks, and snacks, the Café offers wraps, salads, and sweet treats from Little Flower Café. NOT ADA-COMPLIANT Please be advised that access to the 100-inch dome is via an open-air, 53-step staircase inside the building. There is no ADA-compliant access. For more information about Visiting Mount Wilson Observatory, please visit: https://www.mtwilson.edu/visiting

Event Links

Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3032922-0

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