Lick Observatory

Mount Hamilton Walking Tour

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Mount Hamilton Walking Tour

These Walking Tour signs were funded by generous donations to the Friends of Lick Observatory. Additional funding was provided by donors via UCSC's "Giving Day." Friends of Lick Observatory is also funding installation of public wifi on Mt. Hamilton and the completion of these web pages. Please support Friends of Lick Observatory.

Aerial view of Lick Observatory from the west looking east, showing the historic main building in the foreground and the Shane telescope dome in the background.

The First Mountaintop Observatory

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North dome of Lick Observatory, circa 1882.

North Dome Observatory

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Interior view of the Lick Observatory's main building, circa 1920.

The Main Building

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Image highlighting astronomical photographic plates and their storage in the Lick Observatory archives.

Photographic Building

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36-inch Lick Refractor telescope

Telescope Tombstone

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Astronomer Heber Curtis stands on a ladder at the Crossley Telescope.

The Crossley Telescope

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Panoramic views of the south from Lick Observatory, highlighting Mt. Isabel, Hollister, Fremont Peak, and Morgan Hill.

Panoramic Views: Southern View

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Panoramic view to the northwest from Lick Observatory, highlighting views of San Francisco, Mt. Tamalpais, Sonoma Mountain, Black Mountain, and Mt. Diablo.

Panoramic Views: Northern View

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Panoramic view to the west from Lick Observatory, highlighting San Jose, Mt. McPherson, and Moffett Field.

Panoramic Views: Northwestern View

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Panoramic views to the southwest from Lick Observatory, highlighting Pinyon Peak, the Monterey Pennisula, Mt. Loma Prieta, and Mt. Umunhum.

Panoramic Views: Western View

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School children sit at their desks, hands behind their backs at the Mount Hamilton School, 1898.

School and Family

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Image of the Shane 3-m telescope inside its dome, with the open dome slit in the background.

The Shane Telescope

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A yellow laser beam propagates from the Shane 3-m telescope, out of the dome. The laser is used to measure turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere.

Untwinkling the Stars

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Image of the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope as viewed through the open dome slit.

KAIT

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Arnold Klemola (left) and Burt Jones (right) at the Carnegie Dual-Astrograph Telescope.

Carnegie 20-inch Dual Astrograph

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Automated Planet Finder Telescope, shown with open mirror cover.

Automated Planet Finder

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