The Sun, Our sun, the One and Only Sun

Lick Observatory, California  

The Santa Clara Valley, a region containing “Silicon Valley,” extends down along the southwestern shore of San Francisco Bay. It includes such well-known communities as Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and San Jose. Before it became a mecca of computer chips and iPhones and Google and artificial intelligence, it was a prolific producer of fruits and vegetables. The extensive fields and orchards are long gone, but the Lick Observatory still overlooks it all.

On the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range to the south of San Francisco Bay, are seen several bright white dots. They are visible from most of the Santa Clara Valley, situated well above the rare snow line, at 4,265 feet.

These brilliant dots represent the observatory buildings of Lick, built in 1876 which became “the world’s first permanently occupied mountaintop observatory.” (Wikipedia) 

The observatory is still very much active and is managed by the University of California (Santa Cruz). It is accessed from US Route 101, exiting to Alum Rock Road in San Jose and climbing steeply into the mountains to the southeast. The white domes seem quite close as you climb, but you would be shocked to know that you still have ten miles of excruciating switchbacks to reach them. A beautiful drive, and once one reaches the summit, many treats await. On a clear day, the entire San Francisco Bay, and even San Francisco 60 miles to the north, are visible. The entirety of the Santa Clara Valley is revealed. And the Bald Dome of Yosemite reveals itself to the east, across the broad Central Valley. To the culinary-minded visitor, it is wonderful to snatch a handful of wild California Bay Laurel leaves to power up some dish at home.

The Lick Observatory has been used for a wide range of astronomical studies, and is still used for sun studies. Especially during eclipses, when we can see the solar prominence (extremely hot gases extending outward from the sun). This is important because we are still trying to understand why the sun’s outer atmosphere is hotter than the surface. And this understanding is imperative, because the sun is the energy source that powers all life on earth. If you don’t care about this, you are simply being mulish.

There is a great deal of solar research going on and our understanding is increasing. Dr. Emily Mason of the Catholic University of America has been studying the blobs of plasma which fall like rain on the surface of the sun. She found that, while the temperatures differ wildly, the physics of the phenomena are identical to how rain is produced on Earth. Amazing stuff.

And finally, the Parker Solar Probe launched last week by NASA.

This is a spacecraft named for Dr. Eugene Parker, a physicist who first posited the existence of a solar wind. After much opposition and derisive merriment, he was proven to be right. The eponymous Parker Solar Probe, the fastest spacecraft ever at over 430,000 mph, will give us incredibly detailed information of the solar function once it reaches the sun. And the best part of this is that Dr. Eugene Parker is still alive at age 91. God bless him.

And it is remarkable how far we have come in a relatively short time. It was only 409 years ago this week that Galileo Galilei demonstrated his new invention, the telescope, to Venetian officials. Now we are hurling $1.5 billion telescopes into the heavens.

But why all these explorations, why do we care? Because the sun is our mother, our father, our god. Without it we would not survive. We must understand it.

Which is a great reason for you to visit the Lick Observatory. Bon voyage.