2024 Summer Series Public Events have been scheduled! Tickets go on sale on Wednesday April 17th at Noon!
Event Information

Tonight’s Host: Dr. Paul Lynam

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

This Evening’s Events

 

Concert

Fire and Grace
Fire and Grace

…exuded life, emotion, warmth and depth.

Otago Daily Times, New Zealand

Fire & Grace is an eclectic collaboration between guitarist William Coulter and violinist Edwin Huizinga. This unique duo explores the connective musical elements of classical, folk, and contemporary traditions from around the world. Fire & Grace’s repertoire is vast, ranging from Bach to Vivaldi, tango to Celtic tunes, traditional Bulgarian to American fiddle tunes and waltzes, all played with a sense of discovery and commitment to the elements of passion and virtuosity — fire and grace — found in these diverse traditions. Recent and upcoming performances have included engagements at the Carmel Bach Festival, the Mozaic Festival, the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, the Electric Earth Concerts, the Monterey Museum of Art, and with Tomaseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas. In March and April 2017, Fire & Grace toured to New Zealand with appearances at the UPSURGE Festival, the Festival of Colour, and the New Zealand School of Music. The group’s self-titled debut album combines melodies from Argentina, Bulgaria, and Western Europe with dance elements from baroque and folk musical traditions.

Edwin Huizinga

Performing both baroque and modern repertoire, Canadian violinist Edwin Huizinga has appeared alongside Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Dawn Upshaw, Mike Marshall, and Stevie Wonder, and has been featured as a soloist with the San Bernardino Symphony, the Sweetwater Music Festival, the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival, and the Banff Summer Arts Festival. Edwin is a founding member of the baroque ensemble ACRONYM which has released six full-length albums of previously unknown and unrecorded baroque music. Edwin also performs all over the world with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. As a modern violinist, Edwin has performed in the US and Germany with The Knights NYC, and occasionally works with A Far Cry. Edwin is also a member of the Juno-nominated indie rock band The Wooden Sky, and has recently been commissioned to write a piece for Canada’s 150th anniversary. He is a founding member of the Classical Revolution–an organization dedicated to shaping the future of concerts and jam sessions in alternative locations around the world–and serves as Artistic Director of the Big Sur Music Camp.

William Coulter

Guitarist William Coulter has been performing and recording traditional guitar music for over twenty years. His most recent solo recording, The Road Home (Gourd Music) was met with critical acclaim, and in 2005, he received a Grammy Award for his contribution to The Pink Guitar, a collection of solo guitar arrangements of Henry Mancini’s music. Musical collaborations have been a mainstay of William’s career and have included many tours and recordings including Song for Our Ancestors, with classical guitar virtuoso Benjamin Verdery, Time to Sail and One Sweet Kiss and Westward with Kerry-born Irish singer Eilis Kennedy, Simple Gifts – Music of the Shakers with cellist Barry Phillips, and Celtic Requiem with Irish vocalist Mary McLaughlin. His book of transcriptions, Celtic Crossing, published by Mel Bay, includes all of the music from his recording of the same name. William maintains a classical guitar studio at the University of California at Santa Cruz at teaches at many summer music camps.

For more details go to the Fire & Grace web site.

 

Science Lecture

(presented twice)

Dr. Sarah Loebman
Dr. Sarah Loebman

University of California, Merced

“Fascinating Astronomy Lecture Title TBA”

Dr. Sarah Loebman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at UC Merced. She is a member of the American Astronomical Society, International Astronomical Union, International Astrostatistics Association, and the Society for Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science.Her primary research interests are in galaxy evolution, clustered star formation, and chemo-dynamics in the Local Universe. She uses high resolution galaxy simulations, survey data, and Big Data tools and techniques to conduct research. She is also a devoted teacher and student advocate, and is strongly committed to supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts in astrophysics.

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 refractor 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 the Blinking Planetary Nebula, a dying sun-like star in the constellation Cygnus.

Telescope Operators:

36-inch Great Refractor

Keith Wandry | Thomas Kelley

40-inch Reflector

Patrick Maloney

40-inch Control Room

Murali Balasubramaniam

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

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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