Subscribe Mega-galaxy is Missing Link in History of Cosmos
May 21, 2013
Kamuela, Hawaii – Two hungry young galaxies that collided 11 billion years ago are rapidly forming a massive galaxy about 10 times the size of the Milky Way, according to UC Irvine-led research conducted on the W. M. Keck Observatory and other research facilities around the world. The results...
Astronomers Using Keck Observatory Discover Rain Falling from Saturn’s rings
April 9, 2013
Kamuela, HI—NASA funded observations on the W. M. Keck Observatory with analysis led by the University of Leicester, England tracked the “rain” of charged water particles into the atmosphere of Saturn and found the extent of the ring-rain is far greater, and falls across larger areas of the planet,...
NASA and Caltech Astronomers Find Potential Energy Supply For Life on Europa
April 4, 2013
KAMUELA, HI – Observations of Europa from the W. M. Keck Observatory help NASA and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) astronomers go one step further in demonstrating life may be possible in the ocean of one of Jupiter’s moons. In addition to the known existence of water, a paper...
Astronomers Detect Water in Atmosphere of Distant Planet
March 14, 2013
KAMUELA, HI – A team of international scientists using the W. M. Keck Observatory has made the most detailed examination yet of the atmosphere of a Jupiter-size planet beyond our Solar System. According to lead author Quinn Konopacky, an astronomer with the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &...
Astronomers Open Window Into Europa’s Ocean
March 5, 2013
KAMUELA, Hawaii—With data collected from the mighty W. M. Keck Observatory, California Institute of Technology (Caltech) astronomer Mike Brown — known as the Pluto killer for discovering a Kuiper-belt object that led to the demotion of Pluto from planetary status — and Kevin Hand from the Jet...
Keck Observatory Completes $4 Million Adaptive Optics Fund
March 5, 2013
Kamuela, Hawaii – The W. M. Keck Observatory has successfully completed a $4 million campaign that will give astronomers the most detailed Adaptive Optics images of the cosmos ever created by mankind. Furthermore, the campaign was funded entirely by private philanthropy. The Gordon and Betty...
VIDEO Astronomy Talk: Black Holes and the Fate of the Universe
January 10, 2013
This is a recoding of a Keck Observatory Astronomy Talk given by Dr. Günther Hasinger, Astronomer and Director of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy. His talk, ‘Black Holes ad the Fate of the Universe’, was given on November 20, 2012 at the Gates Performing Arts Center at Hawaii...
Earth-sized Planets Are Common
January 9, 2013
Kamuela, Hawaii – A team of astronomers from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Hawaii at Manoa has found that 17 percent of all sun-like stars have planets one to two times the diameter of Earth in close orbits. The finding, based on an analysis of the first three years...
Surprise Pancake Structure in Andromeda Galaxy Upends Galactic Understanding
January 2, 2013
Kamuela, Hawaii – Astronomers using the Canada-France-Hawaii and W. M. Keck Observatory telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii have been amazed to find a group of dwarf galaxies moving in unison in the vicinity of the Andromeda Galaxy. The structure of these small galaxies lies in a plane,...
FOUND: One Planet Orbiting Sun-like Star. Only Twelve Light Years Away. May Be Habitable.
December 18, 2012
An international team of astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory and other telescopes, has discovered that Tau Ceti, one of the closest and most Sun-like stars, may host five planets – with one in the elusive ‘Goldilocks Zone’. At a distance of twelve light years and visible with the...
