Music of the Spheres – June 28, 2025

Music of the Spheres – June 28, 2025 8:30pm

Performer: White Album Ensemble Chamber Orchestra

Lecture: The History of the Cosmos (and our understanding of it)

Astronomer: Dr. Tesla Jeltema

Program Information

7:30 pm	Doors Open
8:30pm	Concert in Visitor Center
	Lecture Hall	36-inch Great Refractor Dome
9:30 pm	Science Talk	Telescope Viewings
10:30 pm	Science Talk (repeated)	Telescope Viewings
1:00 am	Doors Close

Observing passes are handed out when you check in at the door so please plan to arrive early!

Observing only ends when everyone has had a chance to look through the telescope.

Gift shop is open from 7:00pm until 11:00pm.

Weather may restrict telescope viewings, but all other activities will still take place.

White Album Ensemble Chamber Orchestra

Photo of White Album Ensemble containing 5 musicians

The original White Album Ensemble was a 5-10 piece ensemble that covered Beatles music, but Beatles music that was never performed live. The Beatles stopped touring in 1966, and began a recording career that yielded the “classics of our time” from “Rubber Soul,” to “Sgt. Peppers,” to “Abbey Road.” For 2025, a few members of the original White Album Ensemble have created the White Album Ensemble Chamber Orchestra to perform instrumental versions of Beatles and other bands of the time period’s music, wonderfully suited to Lick Observatory’s unique venue.

Visit White Album Ensemble for more information about the original group.

Science Lecture

The History of the Cosmos (and our understanding of it)

There are more planets in the Milky Way than there are stars. But how does some dust and gas around a newborn star turn into a system of planets, and what does this process leave behind? We’ll explore these questions by looking at both our Solar System and the hundreds of planets forming around nearby stars, thinking about some of the mind-bending physics involved and what it would all look like if we could see it for ourselves.

Dr. Tesla Jeltema – UC Santa Cruz

Tesla Jeltema is a faculty member in the Physics Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the Associate Director of the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics. She is also currently serving as the Deputy Spokesperson for the LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration (https://lsstdesc.org/). Her research interests focus on constraining the nature of dark matter and dark energy using the formation and evolution of large-scale structure in the universe. Outside of work, she spends her time with her two, crazy kids; she also a competitive open water swimmer and among other swims has swum the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco and the roughly 13 miles from Anacapa island to the coast of California.

Telescope Targets

Tonight’s guests will have the chance to observe:

Great 36″ Refractor
Objects chosen each evening

Nickel 40″ Reflector
Whirlpool Galaxy

Outside Telescopes
More telescopes will be available outside looking at galaxies, star clusters, and more!

Whirlpool Galaxy / M51 – Image Credit: Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Featured Observatory Volunteers & Staff

Hosts

Dr. Lauren Corlies

TBD

Nickel Reflector Control Room

TBD

Great Refractor Operators

TBD

Nickel Reflector Operator

TBD

Thanks to all of our volunteers for making this evening possible!

Tips and Additional Information

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.

Interested in volunteering? Learn more here!