Tonight’s Hosts:

Dr. Paul Lynam and Dr. Lauren Corlies

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

Jimbo Scott

Have you ever been walking down the street, and suddenly heard a voice that made you walk into a venue to see whose it was? That is Jimbo Scott’s voice – a bell, magnetic and the definition of a powerhouse. A favorite of the Bay Area’s folk and Americana scene, Jimbo Scott has been entertaining audiences far and wide for more than a decade, including 2 years as a member of the famed NorCal Jamgrass band, Poor Man’s Whiskey. His solo work evokes traditions of Tennessee country and bluegrass, Oakland soul in sepia toned California landscapes and life-scapes.

Described by Tahoe Weekly as “Honest Honey-Eyed Americana”, Jimbo’s music casts reflections around the room, flashing from honest self-deprecation to cinematic retrospectives on our part in shaping our communities and accounting the consequences of our actions and inactions. His signature baritone voice has moved many an audience including The Kate Wolf Music Festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Salmonfest and the Fillmore.

At the end of 2022, Jimbo teamed up with an all-star lineup of musicians to form Jimbo Scott and Yesterday’s Biscuits. Featuring Kiel Williams (the Risky Biscuits) on Guitar and Pedal Steel, Andy Merrill (The Risky Biscuits) on bass and Rob Hooper (Carolyn Wonderland, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Patrice Pike) on drums, Jimbo Scott and Yesterday’s Biscuits are a rising force in the NorCal Americana Scene, not to be missed and best to be consumed with reckless abandon.

If you like Jason Isbell, Zach Brown, Leftover Salmon or Paul Simon then you will like Jimbo Scott.

More information about Jimbo Scott at jimboscottmusic.com.

Science Lecture

(presented twice)

Dr. Sanjana Curtis

UC Berkeley

“We are stardust: the story of cosmic alchemy”

Dr. Sanjana Curtis is currently working on many interesting problems in astrophysics – supernovae, merging compact objects (e.g. neutron stars), and the origin of the chemical elements. Her primary motivation is to understand how fundamental forces and particles interact under extreme conditions. She utilizes both theoretical and computational methods for her research.

Dr. Curtis is an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Astronomy at UC Berkeley. Before joining Berkeley, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago. She has lived and worked in India, the Netherlands, and all four US time zones. She also is a science communicator, publishing articles in popular science magazines such as Scientific American.

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, is a star-forming region in the constellation Sagittarius.

Telescope Operators:

36-inch Great Refractor

Theo Chawla | Piper Walker

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

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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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