The huge wildfire still burning out of control in southern California can be seen from space. It also could yet affect mankind's efforts to comprehend the universe.
Over the weekend, the so-called Station Fire, the largest of the wildfires in the area, directly threatened JPL, a critical center in the development and directiion of unmanned space exploration. That danger is past, at least for now, but the fire has moved on to threaten Mount Wilson. Mount Wilson Observatory is not only a leader in Earth-based astronomical research today, it has a century of leadership behind it. George Hale, founder of the observatory, determined the nature of sunspots there. Harlow Shapley helped determine the Solar System's place in the Milky Way Galaxy there, and Edwin Hubble showed that the Milky Way is simply one of inumerable galaxies there.
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