by Jay Freeman
I went to Lick Observatory Thursday, as a docent supporting a small program -- a class from U.C. Santa Cruz. The weather was clear, but quite windy. The tour folks arrived late, so by the time we were in the 120-inch dome it was pretty dark, the slit was open, and the telescope was beginning the night's observing run. I had never been in the 120-inch dome when the telescope was running: LX200 and NexStar fans, eat your hearts out -- goto on this thing sounds like a freight train! The ghost of James Lick has serious competition for spookiness, from the Shane Telescope in motion in the dark.
Because of the small number of tour participants, there was time to direct the 36-inch at a greater number of objects than for the larger, summertime public programs. I did not get to view all of them, but at 314x (55 mm Plossl), we had good views of M15 (resolved clear across the core), delta Cephei, NGC 7331 (elongated more than the field width, with a concentrated central lens and a star-like nucleus), the central region of M31, Saturn, and Jupiter. The planets were disappointing, compared to previous views through the 36-inch that I have had, because of poor seeing. Shortly after viewing Jupiter, the dome began to rattle noticeably in the rising wind, and Elinor Gates (staff astronomer and tour guide, known to her friends as "Ellie") shut down the telescope.
The 120-inch had already shut down due to wind. Several of the observers who had been scheduled to use it came over to the 36-inch for a look. I gave them a hard time about how professional astronomers never actually look through a telescope, don't know any constellations, and so on. They all appreciated how classy the 36-inch was, and were as eager to view through it as anyone.
I had several telescopes with me, but only set up my 70 mm Vixen fluorite. Although Jupiter and Saturn rose early, it was several hours before they were high enough for the 36-inch to view, so Ellie suggested I give students a look at them in the meantime. Several students had to go home early -- morning classes and all -- and would not have had a view of these planets but for the little refractor. The idea of using a small telescope to view objects poorly placed for the 36-inch was a good one; future tour volunteers should remember it. Seeing for the 36-inch was poor enough that several students commented that my 70 mm gave sharper images. There was actually more detail visible through the 36-inch, but at 314x in it, the planets were noticeably blurry, whereas even though the seeing was less than perfect for the 70 mm, at the 112x I was using, the images indeed appeared crisp most of the time.
One student said that she simply *had* to view Saturn, she only believed in it intellectually. This comment led to a general discussion of the difference between intellectual knowledge and knowledge based on experience -- very Santa Cruz -- and her "Wow!!" reaction on looking at the planet demonstrated that they are indeed different kinds of awareness.
At 22x, we also used the 70 mm to view the Pleiades -- the Merope nebula was obvious, though I did not point it out to the students -- and h and chi Persei, which were of course well resolved.
It was fun to see the students' enthusiasm grow. Several faces that had looked rather bored at the beginning of the evening were aglow and excited before it came time to leave.