Lick Observatory was the first permanently occupied observatory in the world to be built on a mountaintop. And so began the world's largest and most powerful telescope. So Lick's second idea was to build a huge pyramid, larger than the Great Pyramid of Cheops, on 4th and Market Streets in San Francisco.įinally, Lick's scientific acquaintances influenced him to commission a project that was monumental not just in physical size, but in its ability to further scientific research and give astronomers a better look at the Universe. No minor undertaking, these statues were to have been large enough to be seen from ships at sea! Advisors pointed out that such statues would be likely targets for shelling during any future wars. First he considered constructing statues of himself and his parents on the California coast. He had several ideas about how to build his memorial for posterity. James Lick's LegacyĮccentric businessman and real estate magnate James Lick donated the $700,000 needed to build a "telescope superior to and more powerful than any telescope yet made." A self-made millionaire bachelor with a fondness for monuments, as Lick approached old age he wanted his name and reputation to live on after his death. Even today, it is second in size only to the 40-inch Yerkes Observatory refractor. When completed, the Lick Refractor was the largest refracting telescope in the world. I took several years and 18 attempts to fabricate the replacement lens, which finally arrived on Mt. One of the original lenses broke in transit. Finally they came up the winding road from San Jose to Mt. After grinding and polishing, they traveled across the country by railroad. The glass disks came from France to Boston by ship. Transportation of these large and fragile glass lenses was a considerable challenge in the 1800s. The two 36-inch diameter glass disks were fabricated in France, and ground and polished into lenses in Massachussetts by Alvan Clark and his son Alvan G. This repositioning must be done carefully due to the mass of the telescope and the fragility of the glass. In this procedure, the end of the telescope that is usually pointed towards the sky must be brought down to the dome floor by repositioning the counterbalances that hold the telescope in its working position. The photo on the left shows the cleaning of these lenses, a delicate maintenance procedure that few are allowed to witness. "36-inch" refers to the diameter of the two refracting lenses on the skyward end of the telescope. Located in the larger dome of the main observatory building, the Great Lick refractor is 57 feet long, 4 feet in diameter, and weighs over 25,000 lbs. The 36-inch refractor was fabricated at the same time, and one of the two original domes was built specifically for this telescope. Lick Observatory was built during the years 1880 through 1888. UCO home > Public Information > Telescopes > Great Lick 36-inch Refractor The Great Lick Refractor
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