Lick Observatory

05/05/2020

It Happened Here: Observatory built in Goldendale

Goldendale, Washington was the site of a the 1918 eclipse expedition led by William Wallace Campbell, director of Lick Observatory. A recently updated observatory reopened in Glendale on Feb 28, 2020.
https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/happened/it-happened-here-observatory-built-in-goldendale/article_0cdb79ec-4786-5328-bf02-2c661c107b06.html

For almost 47 years, the Goldendale Observatory has been giving the public a close-up look at the heavens.

05/02/2020

Nova and it's activity page are now live - created to ignite imagination, confidence, and action in girls and young women. www.sparktheseries.com/nova

To celebrate International Astronomy Day we are excited to share the FREE premiere of Nova! Featuring Lick Observatory and Dr. Sandy Faber's work - plus connected educational activities available online. Perfect material to inspire curious minds. https://www.sparktheseries.com/nova #stem #astronomy #womeninscience

05/01/2020

UC Observatories

Lick Observatory serves as the inspirational back drop for Nova.

Nova is a short film inspiring kids to embrace their curiosity. Award winning director of Nova, Joyce Tsang and co-creator of Spark, Maribeth Romslo met with Dr. Sandy Faber in 2017 to work on portraying her in a film to encourage girls in STEM. Set in 1977 & 1994, a fictional girl with big dreams has an impactful encounter with pioneering Astronomer Dr. Sandy Faber. https://vimeo.com/350418731/14f273c69e

04/30/2020

UC Observatories

UC Observatories

Dr. Sandy Faber’s legacy is being celebrated in a fictional film inspired by her life’s work. More on that tomorrow… for now here is an inspiring short interview “We Are Stardust”. Enjoy!

04/28/2020

E. Margaret Burbidge (1919–2020)

Margaret Burbidge (1919-2020) was famous for determining the process of nuclear fusion in stars to create elements heavier than helium. She eventually joined the faculty at UC-San Diego and used the Shane 3-m Telescope at Lick Observatory for her research on quasars.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01224-9

Astronomer and co-discoverer of evidence that elements are made in stars.

04/27/2020

UC Observatories

UC Observatories

Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz has been among the speakers at La Noche de las Estrellas at Lick Observatory since it's first event in Sept 2017. He's worked tirelessly to bring Astronomy and science to marginalized groups, including Spanish speaking high-school students who might not see themselves as scientists or be aware of the opportunities. We are proud to have him in our community.

04/25/2020

100 years ago on April 26, 1920, Lick Observatory astronomer Heber Curtis, took part in "The Great Debate" about spiral nebulae and were they other island universes (now called galaxies) or clumps of gas in our own Milky Way? Heber Curtis argued in favor of these being other galaxies, and astronomers such as Henrietta Levitt and Edwin Hubble would determine that that was indeed the case. Heber Curtis used Lick Observatory's Crossley Telescope to study galaxies and the size and scope of the universe. Among his many discoveries was the jet in the Virgo galaxy Messier 87.

https://www.seti.org/universes-greatest-expansion

Heber Curtis is pictured on the left, and his rival in the debate, Harlow Shapley is on the right.

04/15/2020

After much consideration, and the complex issues of health and safety for the public, staff, and volunteers of our Lick Observatory community, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all of this year’s Summer Series events.

While we are certainly disappointed and recognize that you will be too; we are excited to shift our focus to new virtual programming. Going forward we will be sharing our science goals and discoveries with you in creative ways over the summer. Want to make sure you receive updates about our virtual events and programming... sign up to receive updates by emailing [email protected]

Thank you for your continued support of Lick Observatory.
Take care and stay safe (and sane!)

04/12/2020

Lick Observatory is just above the clouds this Easter morning. Ptolemy Peak shown in this photo is the home of the Crossley Telescope Dome.

04/08/2020

Books & Puzzles

Looking for something to keep you busy while sheltering in place during the coronavirus crisis? Lick Observatory has added astronomy jigsaw puzzles to our on-line gift shop. Or pick up a fascinating book to read about Lick Observatory's or astronomy history. We also have children's astronomy books and activities. Get them while supplies last. https://lickobservatorygiftshop.ecwid.com/Books-&-Puzzles-c35609953

04/07/2020

A big thank you to Michael K Norris for making a donation to Lick to support the staff and their scientific goals.

A year ago today @michaelknorris undertook a bike ride up to Lick Observatory. Like all of us during this difficult time he is looking for something to keep him feeling empowered and encouraged. He’s launched #MyNonprofits.

Every day, for seven days or more, he will donate to a different nonprofit that has touched his life in some way, sharing the donation link on social media and encouraging friends to not only donate, but join in on #MyNonprofits too. Today he chose to Donate to Lick Observatory. A big thanks to him for this initiative and his donation!

04/01/2020

We hope this message finds you and your family safe and healthy. We don’t yet know exactly how Lick Observatory will be impacted in the coming weeks, months, and years; but in the meantime, we wanted to take the time to thank you for continued support of Lick Observatory during this unprecedented time of social isolation. We really appreciate our community.

Understandably, the first month (May) of our Summer Series has been cancelled. We look forward to connecting with you in new and creative ways in the coming weeks and months! Stay safe.

03/19/2020

Snow lingers on Mt. Hamilton while the Lick Observatory staff adjust work schedules to accommodate social distancing and maintain a safe and clean workspace for the essential employees that maintain the facilities and telescope domes and operate the telescopes as a precaution against COVID-19.

03/18/2020

UC Observatories

UC Observatories

During this difficult time, finding fun and educational things to do is important. Did you know - In 1665, following an outbreak of plague in England, Cambridge University closed its doors, forcing Issac Newton to return home for isolation, in the garden there one day, he saw an apple fall from a tree, providing him with the inspiration to eventually formulate his law of universal gravitation.

03/17/2020

Lloyd Burdette Robinson died peacefully in his sleep on March 12, 2020. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2012 but never gave up hope of defeating it. As an astronomer at Lick Observatory, Lloyd Robinson made crucial contributions to creating the University of California Observatories (UCO) as we know it today. https://news.ucsc.edu/2020/03/lloyd-robinson-in-memoriam.html

03/13/2020

Lick Observatory | Since 1888

Lick Observatory’s Visitor Center and 120-inch Shane Telescope visitor gallery are closed Saturday, March 14th through Wednesday, April 1st.

We are taking guidance from public health officials who stress the importance of social distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19. Like many public institutions, we’ve decided that a temporary closure is the safest course of action for our visitors, staff and wider community.

We will be closely following the guidance of public health authorities, including the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department, and University of California safety policies, to inform our ongoing response to the virus.

There are no known confirmed or potential cases of COVID-19 at Lick Observatory. The decision to close the Observatory is a precautionary measure.

Up-to-date information will be provided on-line at http://ucolick.org/main/visit/

The on-line gift shop will continue normal operations, and visitors to Mount Hamilton can enjoy walking around the facility enjoying the interpretive signs and scenic views.

Please note: Vending machines, water fountain, and restrooms are open in the main building seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

03/02/2020

UC Observatories

Lick's role is critical to the success of PANOSETI. Always at the forefront of research and discovery.

Why would an intelligent civilization want to communicate with us via nanosecond flashes? Read more here about the application and importance of PANOSETI.

02/28/2020

Get your FoLO Membership before the March 1 Deadline for 🎵 Summer Series @ Lick. FoLO members get access to purchase early tickets *https://secure.ucsc.edu/s/1069/bp18/interior.aspx?sid=1069&gid=1001&pgid=1306&cid=2595*

02/28/2020

UC Observatories

UC Observatories

We have a job opening: Applications Programmer - Applications programmer to lead the data curation and related software for the University of California Observatories (UCO). The candidate will lead development of astronomical data reduction pipelines for instrumentation at UCO. Candidate will lead migration of the Observatory's data archive from a local archive with limited searchability, to a cloud-based system with extensive searchability using metadata. The candidate will also support special software projects for the Observatory.

02/28/2020

UC Observatories

UC Observatories

We have a job opening: Controls Engineer
Involves professional engineering and engineering technician support as part of academic instructional lab and / or research projects and programs. Engineering activities include the design, construction, testing of experimental systems, operation of analytical systems, establishment of performance specifications, and documentation. Engineering Technicians may be assigned duties within a single discipline (e.g., electrical) or span a range of disciplines.

02/28/2020

UC Observatories

UC Observatories

We have a job opening: Controls Engineer
Involves professional engineering and engineering technician support as part of academic instructional lab and / or research projects and programs. Engineering activities include the design, construction, testing of experimental systems, operation of analytical systems, establishment of performance specifications, and documentation. Engineering Technicians may be assigned duties within a single discipline (e.g., electrical) or span a range of disciplines.

02/26/2020

UC Observatories

UC Observatories

UCO Astronomer Paul Robertson at UCI and Corey Beard, a UCI physics & astronomy graduate student who led the analysis of the adaptive optics data team used the Shane Telescope at Lick to aid in this discovery, the high-contrast adaptive optics helped confirm the existence of the exoplanet with high confidence. The newly confirmed G 9-40b exoplanet, is about twice the size of the Earth, slightly smaller than Neptune, and orbits a low-mass M dwarf star only 100 light years away.

02/25/2020

Planet Finder Validates Its First Habitable-Zone Exoplanet, a Mini Neptune - UT News

Lick Observatory's Shane 3-m telescope helped confirm this mini-Neptune planet in the star's habitable zone. https://news.utexas.edu/2020/02/21/planet-finder-validates-its-first-habitable-zone-exoplanet-a-mini-neptune/

FORT DAVIS, Texas — Astronomers have validated their first exoplanet with the Habitable Zone Planet Finder instrument on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, one

02/25/2020

Heising-Simons Foundation supports exoplanet imaging projects at UC Santa Cruz

PEAS (Planet as Exoplanet Analog Spectrograph) has been funded by a $400,000 Heising-Simons grant. Emily Martin and Andrew Skemer will install the instrument at Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton. https://news.ucsc.edu/2020/02/exoplanet-imaging.html

Three new grants totaling $2.4 million will fund work at UCSC on new instruments and technologies to support research on planets beyond our solar system.

02/24/2020

UC Observatories

FREE lecture co-sponsored by: The University of California Observatories (including Lick Observatory) and others. Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 7pm, in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos. Dr. Phil Marshall, of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, will give a free, illustrated, non-technical talk on:

”The Biggest Sky Survey Ever Undertaken: Exploring the Universe with the Rubin Observatory”

The Vera Rubin Observatory, on a mountaintop in Chile, will house a survey telescope that will image the night sky faster and deeper than ever before. Its camera, at 3.6 Gigapixels, will be the biggest digital camera ever built.
Parking in Lot #1 at the college is free. We ask people to try to arrive early to get a parking spot.

02/20/2020

UC Observatories

The Double Astrograph at Lick Observatory was a photographic survey of the northern sky begun in 1941 using two side-by-side refracting telescopes. Nearly 80 years later Shelley’s team is installing multiple side-by-side refracting telescopes into the same Astrograph Dome for a new survey.

We are thrilled to see the history of cutting-edge research continued by UC astronomers using Lick Observatory. https://physicalsciences.ucsd.edu/media-events/articles/2020/innovative-telescopes-set-to-detect-new-signals-from-deep-space.html

02/14/2020

💞 Happy Valentines Friends of Lick Observatory. 💞We love you! If you haven't renewed your membership ~ and would like to attend our HUGELY popular SUMMER SERIES EVENTS, you need to RENEW by March 1st, members get the benefit of pre-sale tickets. They sell out fast. https://www.ucolick.org/main/support/folo/benefits.html message us if you're not sure when your membership runs out ~ we'll get back to you asap.

02/14/2020

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Want to work at Lick Observatory assisting with our Public Programs? We are hiring Public Programs Assistants for the 2020 event season. Apply on line at https://jobs.ucsc.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=72213

https://jobs.ucsc.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=72213

02/12/2020

UC Observatories

We encourage diverse groups to visit Lick, and are very proud to host our yearly "La Noche de las Estrellas" a special Lick Observatory visitors night for our Spanish-speaking community, the next one (by invitation for high school students and family members) will be in fall 2020.

In honor of Black History Month we'd like to remember Benjamin Banneker (1731–1806) a largely self-educated mathematician, astronomer, compiler of almanacs and writer. He also exchanged letters with Thomas Jefferson, politely challenging him to do what he could to ensure racial equality.

02/11/2020

Installing a PANOSETI telescope takes a team and a cherry picker. PANOSETI is a novel optical and near-infrared (350 - 1650 nm) instrument designed to greatly enlarge the current Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) phase space. https://oirlab.ucsd.edu/PANOSETI.html

02/06/2020

Such a wonderful recounting of a trip up to Lick Observatory. We can't thank our employees, and volunteers enough for the passion and care they bring to Lick everyday. We appreciate you!

02/04/2020

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

What's in store for February’s Night Skies
Venus continues to be the brightest star in the western skies during sunset. Mercury will be visible near the Western horizon right after sundown. Look out for Neptune and Uranus, higher in the sky and further East than Venus.

What's happening in the night sky this month?

• Mercury is on the rise
• Mars dons a lunar disguise
• Betelgeuse has a big surprise?

See what’s up for February: https://go.nasa.gov/34hp376

02/01/2020

The Space Junk Is Falling Back On Earth – Henri Le Chat Noir

A spectacular meteor was seen over southern California. Lick Observatory astronomer Paul Lynam agrees it was likely man-made space debris burning up in the Earth's atmosphere.
https://henrilechatnoir.com/the-space-junk-is-falling-back-on-earth/6115/

Home News The Space Junk Is Falling Back On Earth The Space Junk Is Falling Back On Earth Chin Cullin January 31, 2020 0 Comment Tweet on Twitter Share on Facebook Google+ Pinterest A little bit of truth — Humans pollute not just the planet Earth put also Earth’s environment via space junk. Litt...

01/24/2020

Summer Series | Lick Observatory

The 2020 Music of the Spheres concert series includes two Grammy-award winning artists! Tickets for the Summer Series of events -- Music of the Spheres, Evening with the Stars, Public Evening Tours, and Photography Nights -- go on sale on April 15th at Noon. http://ucolick.org/summer/

01/23/2020

UC Observatories

These satellites will certainly affect Lick Observatory - there are supposed to be tens of thousands of them eventually.

When there are 50,000 satellites in the sky, you’ll see the sky crawling, says distinguished Professor Tony Tyson, a University of California Davis astronomer and physicist. “Every square degree will have something crawling in it.”