Research Output from Lick Observatory for 1965-2019

TL;DR

This paper reviews 55 years of research output from Lick Observatory, analyzing productivity trends, technological impacts, and community networks from 1965 to 2019 using refereed publication counts.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of Lick Observatory's research output over five decades, highlighting productivity peaks, technological influences, and community collaborations.

Findings

Peak productivity occurred between 1975 and 1982.

Introduction of digital detectors correlated with increased output.

Recent peaks linked to extragalactic supernova research.

Abstract

The productivity of Lick Observatory (LO) is reviewed over the years from 1965 to 2019, a 55 yr period which commences with the Shane 3 m telescope being the second-largest astronomical reflector in the world, but transitions into the era of 10 m ground-based optical telescopes. The metric of productivity used here is the annual number of refereed papers within which are presented results that are based at least in part on observations made with the telescopes of LO on Mount Hamilton. Criteria are set forth that have guided the counting of this metric. A bibliography of papers pertinent to observations from Lick Observatory has been compiled, and is made available through a NASA ADS library. The overall productivity of the observatory, counting all telescopes, went through a broad maximum between the years 1975 and 1982. This period also corresponds to a maximum in productivity of the Shane 3 m telescope. An author network shows that this period is attended by the introduction of digital detector systems at LO, particularly at the Shane telescope. Following 1983 the overall productivity of LO shows a net long-term decrease but with two other lesser peaks superimposed on that decrease. A slightly smaller peak occurs around 1996 and is associated with programs taking advantage of CCD spectrometers at both cassegrain and coud\'{e} foci of the Shane telescope. A third lesser peak around 2012 can be attributed to a rise in extragalactic supernova studies originating out of UC Berkeley. Author networks serve to document the UC astronomical communities that were using LO telescopes at these peak times. Institutional affiliations of first authors are documented.