Talk on the Work of and Crisis at Lick Observatory Now on YouTube

As you may have heard, the Lick Observatory (on whose Council I am now proud to serve) is being threatened by budget cuts at the University of California. Recently, Dr. Alex Filippenko (who was named the best professor at Berkeley a record nine times, and is a wonderful speaker) gave a very exciting talk on: "Exploding Stars, New Planets, Black Holes, and the Crisis at Lick Observatory". The video is now available on YouTube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEY2pzxda1w

Lick Observatory, the first mountain-top telescope facility in the world, was founded in 1888, but continues to be a vibrant research facility and an important site for student and public education. Dr. Filippenko, who chairs the Lick Observatory Council, discusses some of the most exciting research being pursued at Lick, but also explains the funding crisis, what is being done by local citizens, and how you can help.

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Today's image is a snapshot I took at Lick, showing Dr. Filippenko (left) with noted venture capitalist Jim Katzman, standing in front of the Katzman Automated Imaging Telescope. It was with the use of this telescope that astronomers discovered a number of special exploding stars in other galaxies that could be used as distance markers for the universe. That work led to the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the cosmos and won the two groups involved the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics. We can't let them shut this facility down, folks!

Crisis at the Historic Lick Observatory

Lick Observatory, which went into operation in 1888 and was the first mountain-top observatory, is threatened by the budget axe at the University of California. The University President's Office has said that, by 2017-18, it will have to close the still-active observatory (which played a key role in the discovery of the acceleration of the universe, an observation that won the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics.)

You can read the full story in the alumni magazine for the U. of California: http://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/just-in/2014-02-19/not-licked-yet-fight-keep-iconic-uc-observatory-open

But those of you in the San Francisco Bay Area next week can hear Prof. Alex Filippenko, the President of the Lick Observatory Council, give a free public talk about the latest situation (and what is being discovered at Lick). The talk is Wednesday evening, Feb. 26th, at 7 pm in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College in Los Altos.

It's part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, which I have had the pleasure of organizing and moderating for the last 14 years. For more information about the talk and the speaker, and for directions, see:http://www.foothill.edu/news/newsfmt.php?sr=2&rec_id=3270

From its early discovery of the fifth moon of Jupiter's to the recent findings of planets orbiting other stars, the Lick Observatory has a rich history of astronomical work. Plus, it's a premier educational facility, training young astronomers and welcoming tens of thousands of visitors to its spectacular site.

If you don't live in the area, but would like to know more or would like to help, check out the "Save Lick" website:
http://www.ucolick.org/SaveLick/

(The attached photo, taken by Rick Baldridge of the Peninsula Astronomical Society, shows Lick's oldest building in front of the rising full moon.)

I have a special fondness for the Lick Observatory because its first director helped ound the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, where I was the executive director for 14 years.  Plus it's a Bay Area treasure, and its closing would be a tremendous loss for Bay Area astronomy.

Astronomy Talks Have a YouTube Channel

The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures, which I have the pleasure of moderating, feature noted scientists giving nontechnical illustrated talks on recent developments in astronomy. I am happy to announce that they are now available on their own YouTube Channel, at:
http://www.youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures/

The talks include:

* Frank Drake (the father of the search for radio signals from civilizations in space) discussing his modern view of the Drake Equation,

* Michael Brown explaining how his discovery of the dwarf planet Eris led to Pluto being kicked out of the planet club,

* Alex Filippenko (selected as the U.S. Professor of the Year, a few years ago) talking about the latest ideas and observations of black holes,

* Natalie Batalha (mission scientist for the Kepler Project) sharing the latest planet discoveries from outside the solar system, and

* Chris McKay updating the Cassini discoveries about Saturn's moon Titan (the only moon known to have an atmosphere thicker than Earths).

The lectures are taped at Foothill College near San Francisco (where I teach), and co-sponsored by NASA's Ames Research Center, the SETI Institute, and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Note that the top page of the YouTube channel shows the lectures in the order they happened to be uploaded to YouTube. If you want to see them in chronological order, select the Playlist option.

Both new and older talks in the series will be added to the channel as time goes by. Many well-known astronomers have given talks in this series since its founding in 1999; recent lectures are being recorded so that people around the world can "tune in."

(About the picture: This is a false color image of the Helix Nebula, the last gasp of a dying star located about 650 lightyears away.  A relatively low-mass star is collapsing and losing its outer layer in a final internal adjustment before it dies as a white dwarf.  The material the star loses is excited by the energy of the shrinking star and set to glow.  In this image, infrared radiation (as measured from the Spitzer telescope in space) is shown in green and red, ultraviolet radiation (as measured by the GALEX telescope in space) is shown in blue.)