Monday, July 05, 2010
Lick Observatory
July 2010
On our trip to California for Justin's wedding, I wanted to see Lick Observatory. I'd heard about it, and thought it would be interesting, maybe even cool. I was right.
The dome of the original telescope is glorious. The wood floor rises - you can't get up to the telescope, because it's too high. But instead of using a ladder, they make the floor go up so you can get to the eyepiece or whatever you need to see! Crazy and fantastic.
It's big, and old, and there are over a dozen telescopes on the hill. Each one has its own little (or big) dome. There are reflector telescopes, (which bounce the light with mirrors, so they can be shorter for the same effective range and accuracy) and refractor telescopes (which just focus the light).
There were exhibits all through the halls, and we got to walk into the dome of one telescope and view the room of another. No touching, of course.
This was the first telescope set on a mountaintop. The view is fabulous. The complex looks very like a castle. Cool. Go there if you can.
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I've been to two California Observatories - Palomar Mtn and Mt Laguna. (Before kiddos, Mark and I hung around the Mt Laguna telescopes quite a bit. Mostly just hanging out on the porch bordering the dome - lying on a blanket with binoculars. Both of the California observatories I've been to are amazing.
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