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Updates:

2021-08-30:

• Workshop photos (Credit: A. Ralston) available via link in Resources.

2021-08-29:

• Workshop photos (Credit: E. Gates) available via link in Resources.

2021-08-28:

• Post-travel expense reimbursement form available.

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Between 9 and 11 October 2020, Lick Observatory shall host a 3-day Observational Astronomy Workshop remotely from Mount Hamilton. Intended to provide an introduction to observing, the Workshop is open to entering and early program University of California graduate students.

The 2020 Workshop honors E. Margaret Burbidge.

The Workshop is once again made possible (as in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019) thanks to a donation from UC Irvine astronomy professor, Virginia Trimble, allowing UCO to defray most, if not all, expenses.

The workshop will be run by the Lick Staff Astronomers, featuring remote observing experience with the Kast spectrograph on the Shane telescope, the Hamilton spectrograph on the Coude Auxiliary Telescope (CAT), and direct imaging with the Nickel 1-m reflector. Additionally, the Workshop promises introductory lectures, interactive observation planning sessions, rewarding experiences as well as valuable networking opportunities embracing the whole of UC Astronomy.

Given uncertainty and mitigations regarding the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, it was deemed prudent to modify the format of the 2020 Workshop. Participants are not compelled to be physically present on Mount Hamilton. Established remote observing capabilities shall be exploited to deliver much of the curriculum. Not requiring participants to attend Mount Hamilton offers cost and efficiency savings. Hence, the 2020 Workshop shall be a more compact 3-day event (in comparison with the 5-day schedule of previous Workshops). Despite the remote nature of the Workshop, the number of participants is limited to 20 persons, as in previous Workshops.

During the October 2021 Workshop, participants expressed interest in attending Mount Hamilton. It was also felt that participants of the exclusively remote Workshop were denied some of the opportunities that previous Workshop participants have been exposed to. With UC President Michael V. Drake's desire for a return to in-person instruction in advance of the 2021 fall quarter, arrangements were made for a subset of those who participated remotely in October 2020 to visit Mount Hamilton for 3-days/2-nights in August 2021.

This subset of participants will be accommodated in the new and old dorms, in compliance with the prevailing limitations imposed by the SCU Lighting Complex wild fire and COVID-19 mitigations.

Shane telescope image copyright Laurie Hatch