The Anna L. Nickel telescope is a 1-meter

reflecting telescope A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by Isaac Newton as an alternati ...

located at Lick Observatory in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The smaller dome on the main building at Lick had originally held the secondhand 12-inch Clark

refracting telescope A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope design was originally used in spyglasses and a ...

, the first telescope to be used at Lick. In 1979 it was replaced with the Anna L. Nickel telescope, a 1-meter

. The telescope is named for Anna L. Nickel, a San Francisco native who donated $50,000, a large portion of her estate, to the Observatory. The Nickel telescope was built entirely by

UC Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge ...

personnel and utilized many spare parts, including a replacement mirror for the

Crossley Reflector The Crossley telescope is a reflecting telescope located at Lick Observatory in the U.S. state of California. It was used between 1895 to 2010, and was donated to the observatory by Edward Crossley, its namesake. It was the largest glass ref ...

. It eased demand for time on the 120-inch C. Donald Shane telescope by taking on research programs that do not require the Shane's greater light-gathering power. Due to its optical design, it can use the same instruments as the Shane so instruments can be tested on it.

See also