Tonight’s Host: TBD

7:30 pm	Doors Open	Brief Telescope Visits
8:30 pm	Science Talk, Lecture Hall	History Talk, Great Refractor Dome
9:30 pm	Science Talk (repeated), Lecture Hall	Telescope Viewings
10:30 pm	History Talk (repeated), Lecture Hall	Telescope Viewings
1:00 am	Doors Close

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This Evening’s Lectures

Science Lecture

(presented twice)

Dr. Nour Skaf

UC Santa Cruz

“Exoplanets: a cosmic odyssey bringing worlds and broadening horizons”

Dr. Nour Skaf is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in the Astronomy & Astrophysics Department with a focus on instrumentation and data analysis for exoplanet direct imaging.
She received her PhD in exoplanet science in 2023 from Observatoire de Paris, during which she was based at the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii. She worked on implementing a new algorithm for better imaging of exoplanets with adaptive optics. She also focused on understanding planet formation by observing young stars and their disk, as well as working on atmospheric characterization of exoplanets, via transit spectroscopy.
Nour received in 2021 the L’Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science – young talent France category. In 2019, she earned double master’s degrees from Imperial College London in fundamental physics, and from the Institut d’Optique Graduate School in France in optical engineering.
After completing her PhD, she spent several months working on improving access to astronomy in emerging countries, with a focus on Africa and Southeast Asia.

History Lecture

(presented twice)

History Speaker Name TBA

History Speaker Name TBA info

Tonight’s Telescopes & Objects

36-inch Lick Refractor. Photo (c) Laurie Hatch.

Lick Observatory’s 36-inch Great Refractor saw “first light” in 1888. At the time, it was the largest refracting telescope in the world. It is an enduring memorial to James Lick’s philanthropy and his final resting place.

For nearly 300 years after Galileo first turned a telescope toward the heavens it was believed that the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter, had just four moons. In 1892, using the Lick’s 36-inch Great Refractor, Edward Barnard discovered a fifth moon, the much fainter Amalthea, the last moon of any planet to be discovered without the aid of photography, electronic detectors or space-based telescopes.

The 36-inch telescope will show you an interesting astronomical object of the telescope operator’s choosing. This may be a globular cluster of stars, a binary star, or a galaxy.

Nickel 1-m Telescope. Photo (c) Laurie Hatch.

The Nickel 40-inch Reflector, named for philanthropist Anna Nickel, was designed and built in the Lick Observatory Technical Facilities at UC Santa Cruz and completed in 1979. The 40” diameter mirror of this modern telescope makes it the third most powerful telescope on Mount Hamilton.

Tonight you will view M11, the Wild Duck Cluster, a cluster of very young stars in the constellation Scutum.

Telescope Operators:

36-inch Great Refractor

TBD | TBD

40-inch Reflector

TBD

40-inch Control Room

TBD

Telescopes will be available for viewing, weather conditions permitting, as soon as it is dark enough and will remain open until everyone has had an opportunity to see through both telescopes.

Share tonight’s experience on Social Media: #LickObservatory @LickObservatory

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Additional Viewing Opportunities – Weather Permitting

Amateur astronomers have telescopes set up behind the main building. They will enjoy showing you other objects in the sky.

The Gift Shop is open tonight from 7:30 pm to 11:30 pm.

Refreshments

Snacks and beverages are available at the refreshment table in the main foyer. All proceeds help support the public programs. In the past, we have used proceeds to purchase an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), additional wooden benches in the main building, new speakers and amplifiers for the main building hallway, and partial funding of two spotting telescopes by the flag pole.

Dark Adjustment

Your experience at the telescopes will be better if your eyes have had an opportunity to adjust to the dark. For this reason, we try to keep the light levels low in both wings of the main hall.

Lights

Please refrain from use of flash photography or white light flashlights in the domes or adjoining hallway.

Assistance

We strive to make your visit as complete and meaningful as possible. Please let us know if you will need special assistance (for example, if you will have difficulty climbing stairs) by emailing tickets@ucolick.org, so we can make the necessary arrangements.

Our Volunteers

All of Lick Observatory’s public programs are greatly enhanced by the valuable participation of our many dedicated volunteers.

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