Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton

Last Friday, I drove to the Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton. I had been wanting to visit the observatory and decided this would be a fine day to do it. I think waking up and seeing the bright planet Venus on the horizon inspired me.

The trip to the observatory was very pleasant. I love driving in the Diablo Mountains as it provides a bird's-eye view of San Jose. The road to Mount Hamilton varied from flat and straight to hairpin turns. There were several gorgeous vistas.

I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the Visitor Center at the observatory. The hallway was well lit and lined with framed paintings all dealing with astronomical themes. There was a very large souvenir shop as well as an exhibit room and a small lecture room. I attended a 15 minute talk that took place under the dome where the 36" refracting telescope was located.

After the talk, I visited the lecture room where a large screen displayed a video feed of current news in the astronomy world. At the time, there was a news item about the Hubble space telescope and how it was going to run out of commission in 2010, and what plans were being made to repair and replace it.

After hanging out in the lecture room for a few minutes, I walked down the hall to the room with the exhibits. There were murals that covered the history of the observatory and a display of meteorites.

After that, I left the Visitor Center and walked the grounds a bit. I headed over to the 120 inch reflecting telescope. It was a very hot day but I took my time walking and did not sweat too much.

The 120 inch telescope was a bit of a disappointment. You were not allowed into the area where the telescope was but had to sit in a chair behind a glass window. A man appeared to be doing some maintenance work on the telescope and a family of four was watching a video. I looked at the display to my left, took some pictures, and watched part of an old video that talked about how the gigantic telescope was mounted.

After that, I walked back over to the visitor center and made another visit to the gift shop.

I was struck by the quietness of the campus. Its isolated location did not make it a heavily trodden tourist site. And the people I saw were people hired to maintain the building. I imagine the place was more bustling at night and on weekends.

I was also struck by how run down many of the buildings were. They looked neglected. The docent who gave the talk was also the gift shop supervisor. I liked her. She gave a nice quick talk about the telescopes and history of the observatory. She also explained that the number of residents was now down to 39. In the heyday of it's lifetime there had been 100 residents. The maintenance crew had been reduced down from 8 to 4.

The observatory, at one time used for many scientific purposes, is now used mostly for educational purposes. They have done a good job of making the place attractive to adventuresome tourists. It is a bit off the beaten track, but the drive is scenic and the history of the place (read about James Lick) entertaining.

I took some pictures while I was there.