2025 Summer Series Public Events are being planned! Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday April 16th 2025 at Noon!
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Evening with the Stars. Photo (c) Laurie Hatch.

August 19th, 2022  8:00pm

Astronomy Speaker:  Dr. J. Xavier Prochaska

Lecture Information

Dr. J. Xavier Prochaska (UC Santa Cruz)

How to Weigh the Universe in Three Easy Steps


Dr. J. Xavier Prochaska is Astronomer and Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the UC Observatories and UC Santa Cruz.  His research examines the nature of gas both within and outside of galaxies, primarily during the first few billion years of the universe.  The analysis relies on high resolution spectroscopy of distant, intrinsically bright sources (quasars, gamma-ray bursts).  In this manner, the absence of light is used to study the metallicity, molecular fraction, depletion, ionization state, and velocity fields of gas in the young universe.

Ticket Information

Tickets can be purchased at ucsctickets.com starting April 13th, 2022 at Noon.

Join Friends of Lick Observatory (FoLO) and Get Tickets Early
If you’d like to purchase tickets as early as noon on April 6th, 2022, join our Friends of Lick Observatory (FoLO) program by March 1st, 2022. As a thank you for supporting the observatory, you’ll get special access to purchase tickets before they go on sale for the general public.

More information about tickets and pricing is available here.

Program Information

7:00 pm Doors Open Brief Telescope Visits
8:00 pm Science Talk, Lecture Hall History Talk, Great Refractor Telescope Dome
9:00 pm Science Talk (repeated), Lecture Hall Telescope Viewings
10:00 pm History Talk (repeated), Lecture Hall Telescope Viewings
12:30 am Doors Close

Gift shop is open from 7:00pm until 11:00pm.

Detailed Event Program

More general information about the event is available at Evening with the Stars.