Tonight’s Host: Dr. Lauren Corlies

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

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This Evening’s Events

Concert

Golden Bough

Rooted in the traditional music of the seven Celtic nations (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, The Isle of Man, French Brittany, and Spanish Galicia), Golden Bough has become a popular and in-demand group on both sides of the Atlantic.

Since their formation in 1980, this trio of modern day minstrels has traveled great distances to numerous countries, to bring their music to enthusiastic folk fans the world over. Backing themselves on an array of acoustic instruments; Celtic harp, guitar, octave-mandolin, mandolin, accordion, violin, penny-whistle, and bodhran, they blend their voices in the pristine harmonies that have become a Golden Bough trademark. Visit the Golden Bough website for more information.

Science Lecture

(presented twice)

Dr. Jorge Moreno

Pomona College

“The intriguing lives of galaxies without dark matter”

Dr. Jorge Moreno is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Pomona College, and the fourth Mexican scholar to receive tenure in astronomy/astrophysics in the United States. He is also the 2023-2025 IDEA Scholar(Flatiron Institute), and the recipient of the 2023 Vera Rubin Distinguished Professorship (UC Santa Cruz). His field of expertise is computational astrophysics, and he works on various aspects of galaxy evolution and structure formation. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles, received ~1 million dollars in funding, and has recently solved the puzzle behind the existence of dark matter deficient galaxies, which gathered significant media coverage.

He also enjoys exploring the intersections of astronomy, pedagogy, mentoring and art. At the national level, he has served as the chair of the AAS Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy. On the eve of the Trump presidency he led a Town Hall on Racism in Astronomy at the 229th AAS Meeting, attended by over 2000 astronomers. He was also the director of the Harvard Aztlán Institute, a summer research program aimed to uplift minoritized undergraduate students in astronomy.

In recent years, he has focused his advocacy efforts to the way we teach and mentor the next generation. This includes work at his own institution and the delivery of (paid) workshops nationwide. In 2023 he coined the term astromimicry as a way to allow the universe to inspire us to create more inclusive communities.

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 NGC 6826, the Blinking Planetary, a planetary nebula in the constellation Cygnus.

Telescope Operators:

36-inch Great Refractor

Patrick Maloney | Allan Meyer

40-inch Reflector

Rick Baldridge

40-inch Control Room

Evan Carrasco

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 7:00 pm to 11:00 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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