Eyes in the Sky
Unique views of deep space from the Lick Observatory
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The Lick Observatory is situated on the summit of Mt. Hamilton, near San Jose, Calif. It provides University of California astronomers with access to world-leading optical-infrared observing equipment. The observatory began operations in 1888 and was founded with a $700,000 bequest from real-estate entrepreneur James Lick.
Today, Lick serves astronomers from all nine UC astronomy campuses, including UC San Diego. Users range from undergraduates to the most senior and eminent astronomers in the University of California. At any given time, over 100 observers are pursuing science programs at the observatory.
UC San Diego faculty visit the observatory regularly to conduct experiments, collect data and provide students with hands-on learning experiences. Recently, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Adam Burgasser traveled to Lick with graduate student Emma Softich and undergraduate students Marylin Loritsch and Madison Fierro.
The 36-inch Lick refractor is 57 feet long and weighs over 25,000 lbs. "36 inches" refers to the diameter of the two refracting lenses on the skyward end of the telescope. Completed in 1888, it remains one of the largest refractors in the world.
Astronomers sitting underneath the telescope dome floor into the light path that goes toward the large Hamilton Spectrograph.
The Lick Observatory sits atop Mt. Hamilton in the Diablo Mountain Range at an elevation of 4,209 ft.
Burgasser's Cool Star Lab studies the lowest-mass stellar neighbors to the sun — relatively cool stars called "M dwarfs." These are the most common type of star in the Milky Way galaxy, but because they are cool and faint, even some of the nearest M dwarfs have barely been studied. Burgasser's team uses the Kast spectrograph on Lick's Shane telescope to measure the optical spectra of these understudied M dwarfs, many of which are known to host exoplanets. The data are used to determine the temperature and elemental composition of the M dwarfs' atmospheres, as well as the presence of magnetic activity, all of which are important traits needed to better understand their planets and whether those planets could be habitable.
Marylin (center), Emma (right) and Madison (back left) get a close-up look at the Kast Double Spectrograph from the Shane telescope.
Colored filters, such as this one, are used to let in certain wavelengths of light that help astronomers determine a star's temperature.
(l-r): Members of the Cool Star Lab include students Emma Softich, Marylin Loritsch and Madison Fierro and Professor Adam Burgasser in front of the Shane 3-meter telescope.
Emma (center) describes how to run calibrations for the Kast Double Spectrograph to Marylin (left) and Madison (right).
The Shane 3m telescope. Light is reflected from the primary mirror (at the base of the telescope) to the secondary (at top) and back down into the instruments mounted on the bottom of the telescope.
Photographer Erik Jepsen made this "star trails" image by stacking 392 images taken with a 14mm lens at f/2.8. The total exposure time was 52 minutes.
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