(January 12, 2010) Dr. Michael Liu, of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawai’i, presents “Seeing the Invisible: A Clearer Look at Cool, Failed Stars” as part of the 2010 Evenings with Astronomers lecture series held at the Fairmont Orchid. Listen as Dr. Liu describes the important role the Keck telescopes and their world leading adaptive optics systems play in studying brown dwarfs, the Sun’s tiny, “hidden neighbors” and other celestial mysteries.

(December 17, 2009) In this final presentation of the 2009 Mauna Kea Directors’ Lecture Series, Dr. Mike Bolte, director of the University of California Observatories and a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, will present “400 Years of the Telescope: from Galileo to the Thirty Meter Telescope.” He will discuss the Thirty Meter Telescope project, currently the most powerful telescope ever conceived of, which is designed to further advance our understanding of the cosmos.

(November 23, 2009) In this special lecture for Keck Observatory, “Celebrate the Holidays with the Mysteries of the Cosmos,” Alex Filippenko, professor of astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley, presents his research into the nature of dark energy and how modern observational astronomy is helping to develop a unified theory of forces.  Learn how the Keck telescopes are playing an important role in unraveling some of the greatest mysteries of our time.

(November 19, 2009) In this lecture, Dr. David James, director of the new Hōkū Ke`a telescope and an assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, presents “Using the New 0.9-meter Hōkū Ke`a UHH Telescope to Promote Hawai‘i-based Undergraduate Leadership in Astronomy (HULA).” James presents an overview of plans for the telescope, which will be installed on the site of the old UH 0.6-meter observatory on Mauna Kea.