Lick Observatory facts for kids
| Location | near San Jose, California |
|---|
The Lick Observatory is a special place where scientists study space. It's an astronomical observatory. The University of California owns and runs it. You can find it on Mount Hamilton. This mountain is in the Diablo Range, just east of San Jose, California, USA. The main office for the observatories is at the University of California, Santa Cruz campus.
Contents
Cool Discoveries from Lick Observatory
Scientists at Lick Observatory have made many exciting discoveries. They have found new objects in space, including moons and planets!
Moons of Jupiter
Several moons orbiting Jupiter were first seen from Lick Observatory. These include:
Near-Earth Asteroids
An asteroid called (29075) 1950 DA was also discovered here. This is a Near-Earth asteroid. It means its path brings it close to Earth.
Planets Beyond Our Solar System
Lick Observatory has also helped find many extrasolar planets. These are planets that orbit stars other than our Sun. Some of these discoveries include:
- A star system with five planets:
- 55 Cancri
- A star system with three planets:
- Upsilon Andromedae (found with the Whipple Observatory)
- Star systems with two planets:
- HD 38529 (found with the Keck Observatory)
- HD 12661 (found with the Keck Observatory)
- Gliese 876 (found with the Keck Observatory)
- 47 Ursae Majoris
Images for kids
-
Layout of the Lick Observatory. The dome housing the 36-inch Great Lick refractor telescope is on the right.
-
Lick Observatory in 1900
-
The Great Lick 36-inch refractor, in an 1889 engraving
-
Lick Observatory from Grant Ranch Park
-
Lick Observatory and Mount Hamilton, looking east on takeoff from Mineta San José International Airport
-
Lick Observatory's Shane 120-inch telescope (center) along with the nearby Automated Planet Finder 100-inch reflector
See also
In Spanish: Observatorio Lick para niños
