Lick Observatory

Lick Observatory, astronomical observatory located on Mt. Hamilton, Calif., near San Jose; the first mountaintop observatory in the world, it was founded through gifts made by James Lick in 1874–75 and came under the direction of the Univ. of California in 1888; it is now run by the Univ. of California Observatories. The original telescopes at the observatory were a 12-in. (30.4-cm) refracting telescope (1881, since decommissioned) and a 36-in. (91.4-cm) refracting telescope (1888), second largest in the world after the 40-in. (101.6-cm) refractor at Yerkes Observatory. The principal research instrument now is a 120-in. (3-m) reflecting telescope that went into operation in 1960. Other equipment includes 39.4-in. (1-m) and 36-in. (91.4-cm) reflectors.

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Lick Observatory 

a scientific institution of the University of California (USA). It was constructed using funds bequeathed by the millionaire J. Lick (1796–1876).

The observatory is located atop Mount Hamilton (1,306 m), 46 km east of San Jose. A 30-cm refractor was installed in 1881 and a 91-cm refractor in 1888 (the observatory’s official year of opening). A 91-cm reflector was brought from England in 1895. Other instruments include a 51-cm double astrograph (installed in 1939), a 305-cm reflector (1950), and a 61-cm reflector (1964). Since 1966 the laboratories of the Lick Observatory have been located at Santa Cruz.

The observatory is primarily concerned with the study of the structure and rotation of the Milky Way Galaxy, the physical properties and proper motions of stars, and extragalactic nebulae. It publishes Lick Observatory Publications (since 1887), Lick Observatory Bulletin (since 1901), and Contributions From the Lick Observatory (since 1889).