2008 Press Releases

ASTRONOMERS CAPTURE FIRST IMAGES OF NEWLY-DISCOVERED PLANETARY SYSTEM

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Nov 13, 2008

Kamuela, HI (November 13th, 2008) Using high-contrast, near-infrared adaptive optics observations with the Keck and Gemini telescopes atop Mauna Kea, astronomers for the first time have taken snapshots of a multi-planet solar system, much like ours, orbiting another star. The…

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Keck Telescope and Cosmic Lens Resolve Nature and Fate of Early Star-Forming

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Oct 15, 2008

PASADENA, Calif. (October 15th, 2008) Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and their colleagues have provided unique insight into the nature of a young star-forming galaxy as it appeared only two billion years after the Big Bang and…

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KECK OBSERVATORY OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2008: WELCOME TO THE EDGE OF DISCOVERY

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Sep 4, 2008

(September 4th, 2008) W. M. Keck Observatorys 2008 Open House will feature “hands-on activities” and displays presenting the science, technology and excitement of astronomy.

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MOST BLACK HOLES MIGHT COME IN ONLY SMALL AND LARGE

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Aug 20, 2008

(August 20th, 2008) Black holes are sometimes huge cosmic beasts, billions of times the mass of our sun, and sometimes petite with just a few times the sun’s mass. But do black holes also come in size medium? Research combining…

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RARE STAR MAKING MACHINE FOUND IN EARLY UNIVERSE

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Jul 11, 2008

(July 11th, 2008) Astronomers have uncovered an extreme stellar machine of a galaxy in the very remote universe, pumping out stars at a surprising rate of up to 4,000 per year. In comparison, our own Milky Way galaxy turns out…

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ASTRONOMERS WEIGH THE COLDEST BROWN DWARFS WITH ASTRONOMY’S SHARPEST EYES

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Jun 2, 2008

Honolulu (June 2nd, 2008) Astronomers have used ultrasharp images obtained with the Keck Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope to determine for the first time the masses of the coldest class of “failed stars,” a.k.a. brown dwarfs. With masses as light…

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KECK, HUBBLE IMAGES SHOW CONTINUED TURBULENCE IN JUPITER’S ATMOSPHERE

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May 22, 2008

Berkeley (May 22nd, 2008) Increased turbulence and storms first observed on Jupiter more than two years ago are still raging, according to astronomers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, who snapped high-resolution…

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COMPACT GALAXIES IN EARLY UNIVERSE PACK A BIG PUNCH

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Apr 29, 2008

Baltimore, Md. (April 29th, 2008) Imagine receiving an announcement touting the birth of a baby 20 inches long and weighing 180 pounds. After reading this puzzling message, you would immediately think the baby’s weight was a misprint. Astronomers using NASA’s…

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Water Vapor Detected in Protoplanetary Disks

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Mar 18, 2008

PASADENA, Calif.—Water is an essential ingredient for forming planets, yet has remained hidden from scientists searching for it in protoplanetary systems, the spinning disks of particles surrounding newly formed stars where planets are born. Now the detection of water vapor…

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NOVA PHENOMENON EXPLAINED WITH NULLING MODE AT KECK OBSERVATORY

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Jan 28, 2008

MAUNA KEA (January 28th, 2008) First results from a new scientific instrument at W. M. Keck Observatory are helping scientists understand the physics behind recurrent novae, a type of cataclysmic star system. The results are overturning long-standing assumptions about powerful…

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