Year: 2009

503_APF3mLGS © 2006 Laurie Hatch / image and text - LICK OBSERVATORY - Mt. Hamilton California 2006 July 8 - AUTOMATED PLANET FINDER TELESCOPE - Two of the most advanced technologies in astronomy are represented in this two-minute digital time exposure. In this view looking east from Observatory Peak, a 12-watt yellow sodium laser emanates from the Shane 3-meter Reflector dome, located on Tycho Brahe Peak. It is a component in the worldÕs first scientifically successful and highly specialized Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics system. This technology enables astronomers to reduce the effects of atmospheric distortion, yielding celestial data so improved that they rival those of space-based telescopes. With a telescope mirror only slightly smaller than the Shane 3-meter, the newly constructed and more efficient 2.4-meter Automated Planet Finder dome is located directly in front of the Shane. Fully robotic and equipped with a high-resolution spectrograph optimized for precision Doppler measurements, it will enable off-site astronomers to detect rocky planets of Earth-size masses within our local galactic neighborhood. On Huygens Peak at foreground left, the silver dome of the 0.6-meter Tauchmann Reflector reveals the brilliant light of a waxing gibbous moon. Note the muted apricot-colored glow on the shadowed left rims of the Shane and APF domes. This is reflected light from the deep yellow low-pressure sodium street lamps in nearby Silicon Valley. - The photographer thanks UCO / Lick Observatory staff for their continual and enthusiastic support. - A VIEW FROM LICK OBSERVATORY - Lick Observatory crowns the 4,200-foot Mt. Hamilton summit above Silicon Valley in central California. This research station serves astronomers from University of California campuses and their collaborators worldwide. Eccentric Bay Area tycoon and philanthropist James Lick (1796-1876) bequeathed funding for construction which spanned from 1880 to 1887, fulfilling his