UC Observatories

We are very proud of the heritage of planet hunting which grew up around Lick Observatory and the Hamilton Spectrograph on the Shane telescope, said Matthew Shetrone, deputy director of UC Observatories (UCO).

This month brings the most super of the year’s supermoons, and on top of that, a total lunar eclipse. In other words, on May 26, 2021, the full moon will enter Earth’s shadow and, when the Moon is not in our planet’s shade, it will appear even bigger and brighter than usual. Where will you be watching from?

Lick Observatory's visible-light observations from the Automated Planet Finder are involved in the effort to complete the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken in the search for technosignatures in the Universe...

This virtual event is co-sponsored by the University of California Observatories. In this talk, Dr. Levin will help us understand, black holes perhaps the most opaque theoretical construct ever imagined by physicists.

Fun fact, before astronomers turn on the laser, they must notify Space Force, so they don’t hit sensitive satellites.

Lick observatory is prepped for the coming storm, with hay wattles in key areas to prevent or contain debris flows if we get heavy rains. The maintenance crew has also been making an effort to inspect and clear culverts and drains ahead of the storm. The Observatory remains on generator power, there continues to be power fluctuations any time it's windy or poor weather since the SCU fire damage. PG&E are working on it, but haven’t found the main issue yet. We hope that we won’t have the road blocked by landslides or rockfalls. The picture is taken by resident astronomer Elinor Gates shows hay wattles around the ruined Barnard House (burnt in the recent fire).

We couldn't resist.

The team first detected J0313-1806 after combing through data from large area digital sky surveys. Crucial to the characterization of the new quasar was a high-quality spectrum obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory: Through University of California Observatories, we have privileged access to the Keck telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea, which allowed us to obtain high quality data on this object shortly after it was confirmed to be a quasar at other telescopes, Hennawi said.

We are Live discussing PEAS [Planet as Exoplanet Analog Spectrograph], UCO’s most recently installed instrument at Lick Observatory.

Join us TODAY January 13 at 4pm Use this link https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/9893231749 Dr. Emily Martin, NSF Postdoctoral Fellow and UC Chancellors Fellow at UC Santa Cruz, is working on several UCO instrument projects and will give her UCO Living Room Lecture via Zoom at 4pm (PT) today. We also plan to share the live stream via UCO's Facebook page. Emily will be talking primarily about PEAS [Planet as Exoplanet Analog Spectrograph], UCO’s most recently installed instrument at Lick Observatory. Learn more about this exciting new instrument, including purpose and future plans. If you like learning about exoplanet research, this is the event for you!

Other Worlds: How we will study them. What we hope to find. Planets around other stars are not just the domain of science fiction anymore. Over the past quarter century astronomers have gone from no knowledge of planets around other stars to being able to say how common or rare they are (spoiler: they’re common). Are any of these planets habitable? To learn this we need to develop improved telescopes and instrumentation. Here I describe how a specialized technique called adaptive optics will enable us to study planets and speculate what we might find.

We are having streaming issues use the zoom link to join us live. We will upload the recording after the event. https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/98932317498 Dr. Phil Hinz, currently directs the Laboratory for Adaptive Optics which is part of the University of California Observatories at UCSC. His topic is Other Worlds: How we will study them. What we hope to find.

Join us TODAY at 4pm - https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/98932317498

Lick Observatory Update: This week has seen a red flag event for the Bay Area. How does that affect Mt Hamilton? Power was lost during one of the windy nights. Kostas Chloros Lick superintendent reported I stepped outside with my flashlight on and, without exaggeration, it was "snowing" ash. It was a huge effort to get all the telescopes optics and domes cleaned and prepared for operations, we need to be careful with all the ash that gets kicked around by even the lightest winds. Additional cleanup efforts are needed on a regular basis. The main priority is to protect the telescopes and avoid damaged optics. Until the rains come this will continue to be a problem for operation. You can help us with our recovery here at connect.ucsc.edu/ucodirectorfund Attached is a photo showing the washing of the 40-inch Nickel dome.

Our next virtual event is Tuesday Oct 20th at 4pm. Other Worlds: How we will study them - What we hope to find. Planets around other stars are not just the domain of science fiction anymore. Over the past quarter century astronomers have gone from no knowledge of planets around other stars to being able to say how common or rare they are (spoiler: they’re common). Are any of these planets habitable? To learn this we need to develop improved telescopes and instrumentation. I will describe how a specialized technique called adaptive optics will enable us to study planets and speculate what we might find. Zoom link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/98932317498

We’re really sorry to have lost such a great supporter of Lick Observatory. Hal Hyde served first as a staff member at UCSC and then later in life supporting us philanthropically, we will truly miss this great man.

We are excited to report that last night was the first night back on sky for the Shane Telescope at Lick Observatory since the fire. UCSC Postdoc Tiara Hung took this spectrum of the tidal disruption event plotted below while using our remote observing platform from her home last night. The object was observed at the center of the galaxy NGC 6297.

In celebration of Dr. Andrea Ghez who won a Nobel Laureate in Physics this week for her work, here is the lecture she gave explaining her discovery: UCO Living Room Lecture The existence of a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.

The University of California built remote observing rooms on its far-flung campuses so researchers didn’t need to travel to Lick and other telescopes. Since the arrival of COVID-19, the scheme has been extended to home laptopspajama observing, Max calls it. The days of flying to Hawaii to observe are numbered, she says.

Free, illustrated, non-technical talk: "The Hunt for Dark Matter in the Universe: New Experiments Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020 7:00 p.m. Dr. Tom Shutt, Kavli Institute at Stanford University Co-sponsored by the University of California Observatories (including Lick Observatory)

UCO is thrilled to share that Andrea Ghez has been awarded a Nobel Laureate in Physics for her work on the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy. She sums-up her motivation for becoming an astrophysicist in this conversation recorded after she heard the news of her Nobel Prize. Congratulations Andrea!

Claire Max Director, UC Observatories: As we work on getting back to operational status at Lick following the SCU fire, we want to share with you a video about one of our recent vegetation reduction projects. Even though the August 2020 SCU fire caused some damage to a few of Lick's residences and some infrastructure, the firefighters specifically remarked how the fire would have been far more destructive if the vegetation reduction project hadn't taken place. If you want to help in Lick's recovery from the fire, a gift to the UCO Director’s Discretionary Fund will go towards the recovery projects under way at Lick. https://connect.ucsc.edu/ucodirectorfund

How do we know for sure if we’ve found a planet around an M dwarf? In a new study, a group of researchers led by Paul Robertson (pictured) have been attempting to characterize them in more detail. "The 10-meter Keck Telescope gave us a unique opportunity to study these faint, rapidly-rotating stars in unprecedented detail. We look forward to discovering what other surprises they may hold for us!" https://aasnova.org//02/to-separate-starspots-from-planets/