Lick Observatory

The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory. It is owned and operated by the University of California. It is on Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA. The observatory is managed by the University of California Observatories. Its headquarters is on the campus of University of California, Santa Cruz.

Lick Observatory

The James Lick telescope, housed in the South (large) Dome of main building
Alternative names	lick
Named after	James Lick
Organization	University of California
Observatory code	662
Location	near San Jose, California
Coordinates	37°20′28″N 121°38′35″W
Altitude	1,283 m (4,209 ft)
Website	ucolick.org/main/
Telescopes	Anna L. Nickel telescope Automated Planet Finder C. Donald Shane Telescope Carnegie telescope Coudé Auxiliary Telescope Crossley telescope James Lick telescope Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope Lick Observatory Main Building Tauchmann telescope
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

Significant discoveries

The following astronomical objects were discovered at Lick Observatory:

• Several moons of Jupiter
  • Amalthea
  • Ananke
  • Elara
  • Himalia
  • Lysithea
  • Sinope (disputed)
• Near-Earth asteroid (29075) 1950 DA
• Several extrasolar planets
  • Quintuple planet system
    • 55 Cancri
  • Triple planet system
    • Upsilon Andromedae (with Whipple Observatory)
  • Double planet systems
    • HD 38529 (with Keck Observatory)
    • HD 12661 (with Keck)
    • Gliese 876 (with Keck)
    • 47 Ursae Majoris

Issues

Due to its proximity to San Jose, light pollution and skyglow are an issue for the observatory. This was fine in the past, as San Jose used sodium ion bulbs, whose light were easy to filter out. However, due to safety concerns, LED lights which cannot be filtered out have been installed in San Jose. San Jose dims its lights when the observatory is active.

References

• Campbell, William Wallace (1902). "The Lick Observatory And Its Problems". Overland Monthly, and Out West Magazine. XL (3): 321–. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
• Vasilevskis, S. and Osterbrock, D. E. (1989) "Charles Donald Shane" Biographical Memoirs, Volume 58 pp. 489–512, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, ISBN 0-309-03938-X

Further reading

• Holden, Edward Singleton (1888). Hand-book of the Lick Observatory of the University of California.
• "Lick Observatory Edition". Mining and Scientific Press. June 23, 1888.

Other websites

• Lick Observatory
• Lick Observatory Records Digital Archive Archived 2014-07-02 at the Wayback Machine