The Clinton B. Ford Observatory, once used for variable star observations, has fallen to wildfires.
As wildfires continue to threaten California, one of its historic amateur observatories has fallen to the flames. The Clinton B. Ford Observatory near Wrightwood was destroyed on September 10th in a wildfire that raged across California over the past month, setting more than 54,000 acres ablaze.
Beginning on the afternoon of September 8th, the Bridge Fire spread quickly from the San Gabriel Mountains across the Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties; by the following morning, it had burned through around 4,000 acres. Since then, the fire has felled 81 structures and injured 8 firefighters. One of these casualties was the historic Ford Observatory, which was nestled within the same mountains where the fire originated.
An Undefendable Location
Until recently operated for recreational use by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society (LAAS), the observatory was once an asset to the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). When AAVSO member Claude Carpenter desired a better seeing location for his telescope, he came together with half a dozen amateur astronomers — including Clinton B. Ford, who financed the project — to build the Ford Observatory in 1965. Carpenter donated his reflecting lens, an 18-inch Newtonian reflector, to the observatory.
Obtaining a special permit from the U.S. National Forest Service, the group placed the observatory on the eastern end of Table Mountain at 7,500 feet elevation. They dubbed the site Mount Peltier and called themselves the Mount Peltier Association, honoring prominent AAVSO member Leslie C. Peltier…