Tonight’s Host: Dr. Jon Rees

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

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This Evening’s Events

Concert

Dave Rocha Jazz

Dave Rocha has been performing with his jazz group for more than 20 years. He has played in a number of major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

His band plays an eclectic mix of jazz standards (by Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, etc.) “pop” tunes (Cole Porter, Gershwin and Jobim) and original compositons. This covers a wide variety of styles from up-tempo bebop, “modal” tunes, swing and blues, to latin jazz, ballads and jazz waltz.

In addition to his trumpet expertise, Rocha is also an accomplished flugelhorn player. This instrument is similar to the trumpet, but has a larger bell, which gives it a darker, mellower sound.

“Dave Rocha is a modern player out of the hard-bop tradition, with a beautiful sound and tremendous facility on the horn. You can hear the influence of Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan and others in his playing, but Dave has his own voice, and it’s a nice one!” — Dan Feiszli, Jazz bassist and recording engineer

“Dave’s playing and repertoire evokes memories of the golden era of Modern Jazz, and in addition to being a nice guy he happens to be a bebopper of the finest order.” — Chris Cortez, Jazz Radio Station KCSM

“Dave Rocha is a mature and eminently musical improviser. His sumptuous tone and cafefully chosen notes embody real musical thought. His performance of ‘Dear Old Stockholm’ at Chez Hanny evoked favorable comparisons to Miles Davis’ classic recording.” — Frank Hanny, Host of Chez Hanny

“I always enjoy working with Dave Rocha in the studio, due to his musicianship, professionalism and excellent trumpet playing.” — Mike Cogan, Owner of Bay Records

“Dave is a pleasure to work with. He’s a phenomenal technician with chops to spare.” — Randy Vincent, Jazz guitarist

Visit Dave Rocha Jazz for more information.

Science Lecture

(presented twice)

Dr. Courtney Dressing

University of California, Berkeley

“Exploring Planetary Systems Orbiting Other Stars”

Dr. Courtney Dressing is an observational astronomer focused on detecting and characterizing planetary systems orbiting nearby stars. Her research uses telescopes on the ground (often at Lick Observatory!) and in space to search for planets, probe their atmospheres, measure their masses, and constrain their bulk compositions.

Courtney received a PhD and AM in astronomy and astrophysics from Harvard University and an A.B. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University. She was a member of the Science & Technology Definition Team for the LUVOIR mission concept study and a member of the science panel on Exoplanets, Astrobiology and the Solar System for the Astro2020 Decadal Survey organized by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In recognition of her work, Courtney has been awarded the Hellman Faculty Fellowship, the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, the David & Lucile Packard Fellowship, the 2020 Harvard Bok Prize, and the 2021 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize from the American Astronomical Society. She is currently the Watson and Marilyn Alberts Chair in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).

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 M17, the Swan Nebula, in the constellation Sagittarius.

Telescope Operators:

36-inch Great Refractor

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40-inch Reflector

40-inch Control Room

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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