Lick Observatory
| Lick Observatory | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lick Observatory circa 1904-1909 |
|
| founding | 1888 |
| IAU code | 662 |
| Type | Observatory |
| Coordinates | 37 ° 20 '34 " N , 121 ° 38' 13" W |
| place | Mount Hamilton |
| operator | University of California |
| Website | Lick Observatory |
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory operated by the University of California . It is located at an altitude of 1,300 meters on the summit of Mount Hamilton , near the city of San Jose , California . The observatory is named after James Lick , an American piano builder and landowner, from whose estate the construction was financed.
The Great Lick Refractor was installed on the summit in 1888 , which was then the largest lens telescope in the world ( exceeded by 10% by the Yerkes Observatory in 1897 ). In 1969, the first laser-optical determination of the distance to the moon ( Lunar Laser Ranging ) was carried out at the observatory .
history
The Lick Observatory was the first observatory built on top of a mountain. The decisive factor was the location, which with 330 clear nights per year and very calm air without light pollution offers excellent observation conditions. The summit of Mount Hamilton sits above the mist that often forms over San Francisco Bay .
Since all the building materials for the construction of the observatory had to be brought by horses and mule carts, a road had to be built to the site. So that the gradient of the road does not exceed 6.5%, it winds in countless bends (allegedly 360) to the summit.
The construction of the observatory itself took place in the years 1876 to 1887. In April 1888 it was handed over to the University of California. When it was put into operation on January 3, 1888, the telescope with an opening width of 91 cm was the largest telescope in the world to work with lenses. In addition to the historic refractor, other telescopes have been built on the site over the years. In 1987 the body of James Lick, who died in 1886, was also buried under the historic refractor. A brass plaque bears the simple inscription: Here lies the body of James Lick.
On August 1, 1969, the observatory succeeded in using a ruby laser to measure the distance between the earth and the moon, which was the most accurate up to that point. For this purpose, the beam of a pulsed laser was aimed at the reflector placed on the moon by Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969 . The light pulses reflected by the reflector could be picked up with the help of the 304 cm telescope. An exact distance determination could be made from the transit times of the laser pulses.
With the growth of San Jose and Silicon Valley , light pollution has become a growing problem for sky observation. In 1980, a program was launched to reduce excessive lighting in the surrounding areas, including converting street lighting to low-pressure sodium vapor lamps . These measures meant that Mount Hamilton can continue to be used as an astronomical research station.
Furnishing
The following devices are used at the Lick Observatory:
- C. Donald Shane 304 cm reflecting telescope
- Automated Planet Finder 240 cm reflecting telescope
- Carnegie 50 cm double refractor
- Anna L. Nickel 1 m reflecting telescope
- 91 cm Lick refractor
- Edward Crossley 90 cm reflecting telescope
- Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT), a 76 cm reflecting telescope for automatic sky imaging .
- Coudé mirror telescope 60 cm
- Tauchmann 50 cm reflector telescope
- 135 mm CCD - Comets camera
Discoveries
James E. Keeler first observed the Encke division of Saturn's rings here on January 7, 1888 . The following celestial bodies were discovered at the Lick Observatory.
Jupiter moons
Exoplanets
The following exoplanets have been discovered:
- Triple systems
- Ypsilon Andromedae (together with the Whipple Observatory )
- 55 Cancri
- Double systems
- HD38529 (together with the Keck Observatory )
- HD12661 (together with Keck)
- GJ876 (together with Keck)
- 47 Ursa Majoris
Asteroids
See also
literature
- The Lick Observatory . In: The Gazebo . Issue 14, 1886, pp. 254 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).
