Joani indulged me in what turned into nearly an all-day excursion to see the Lick Observatory. Google maps said it was only about 40 miles, but as you can see below the road did not support an average speed of much more than 15 mph. It was worth the effort - what a fantastic view!
When we could first see the observatory, we were still nearly an hour away!
This switchback was so tight the Honda could barely make the turn and stay in the lane (and I was not going fast - I was in 1st gear).
Finally, we reached the observatory. It was a fitting reward after more than an hour of navigating hairpin turns and narrow roads. What surprised me was the number of bicyclists. Apparently, Lance Armstrong once made the trip up Mt. Hamilton which inspired a lot of others to do the same thing.
During the summer, they allow people to observe through the 36-inch refractor. That would be a pretty good "bucket list" item, but I would hate to drive that road in the dark - maybe a sleepover - I'll have to check into it.
The entire floor (inside the rail) cranks up to the eyepiece.
Laurie Hatch Photography (I took a picture of her picture)
More Laurie Hatch Photography (Wow)
The 120-inch diameter mirror for this telescope was really the practice run to refine manufacturing processes before casting the 200-inch mirror for the Hale telescope. We were told the mirror was brought up the mountain using two trucks and a crane. When they came to a really tight bend they would stop and move the mirror from one truck to the other, instead of stressing the mirror as it rode on a single truck.
They certainly have created a lot of optical paths to use with a variety of equipment. This telescope was used to find extra-solar planets and was leading that effort until more observatories became involved and methods were improved. Now many hundreds of planets have been found orbiting distant stars.
Our campsite was a little tight. You can see from this picture we were close enough to reach out the window and touch the neighbor's awning. We were in good company though - next to an American Eagle and really nice neighbors all around. The campground had just installed a new heater for the hot tub, so I took advantage of it with a couple of early morning soaks.
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