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Keck Observatory discovers the first Goldilocks Exoplanet
Kamuela, HI, – A team of planet-hunting astronomers, utilizing the HIRES spectrometer on the W.M. Keck Observatory’s Keck I Telescope, has announced the discovery of an Earth-sized planet orbiting a nearby star. The new planet, known as Gliese 581g, is at a distance that places it squarely in the middle of the star’s “habitable zone” […]
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Spectrum of young extrasolar planet yields surprising results
Kamuela, HI – Astronomers at the University of Hawaii have measured the temperature of a young gas-giant planet around another star using the W. M. Keck Observatory, and the results are puzzling. They have found that its atmosphere is unlike that of any previously studied extrasolar planet. By obtaining a spectrum of its emitted light, […]
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NSF Awards $1.72 Million to Improve the Keck I Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics System
Kamuela, HI— The W. M. Keck Observatory has received a $1.72 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to design the first near-infrared tip-tilt sensor used to correct for the turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere. The improvements will increase the sensitivity and resolution of the Keck I telescope, which already allows astronomers to resolve in […]
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Reverse Cosmic Lens Advances Quasar Studies
Kamuela, HI — Astronomers using Keck Observatory have identified the first known quasar acting as a gravitational lens that magnifies an even more distant galaxy. The discovery may provide astronomers with a new technique to study quasars. Quasars are extraordinarily luminous and energetic objects that can be a thousand times brighter than ordinary galaxies, such […]
Read More >Reverse cosmic lens advances quasar studies
Kamuela, HI—Astronomers using Keck Observatory have identified the first known quasar acting as a gravitational lens that magnifies an even more distant galaxy. The discovery may provide astronomers with a new technique to study quasars. Quasars are extraordinarily luminous and energetic objects that can be a thousand times brighter than ordinary galaxies, such as the […]
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Zooming in on Infant Planetary Systems
MAUNA KEA, HI—Using both 10-meter Keck telescopes together, astronomers at the W. M. Keck Observatory have been able to peer deeper into proto-planetary disks, swirling clouds of gas and dust that feed the growing stars in their centers and eventually coalesce into new planetary systems. The team studied 15 young Milky Way stars varying in […]
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Keck Observatory Project Scientist wins 2010 Kavli Prize
KAMUELA, HI—Jerry Nelson, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and designer of the revolutionary segmented-mirror Keck telescopes will share the $1 million Kavli Prize in Astrophysics with two other researchers for their innovations in the field of telescope design. The achievements of Nelson and his co-recipients—Roger Angel of the University of Arizona, […]
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Steidel receives Gruber Cosmology Prize for Observations of Earliest Galaxies
NEW YORK, NY – Charles Steidel, the Lee A. DuBridge Professor of Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology, is the recipient of the 2010 Cosmology Prize of The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation. The award recognizes Steidel’s revolutionary studies using the W. M. Keck Observatory of the most distant galaxies in the Universe. “Professor […]
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Possible new type of Supernovae puts Calcium in your Bones
KAMUELA, HI — New data from several telescopes, including the W. M. Keck Observatory, suggest astronomers may have identified a new type of supernovae. The stellar death is thought to have originated in a star that was a low-mass white dwarf accumulating helium from a companion star. When the white dwarf exploded, about half of […]
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Keck Observatory Showcases Local Artist’s Work
KAMUELA, HI—Laurie Goldstein, a resident of North Kohala, will present a mixed media art show, entitled “Universe in Color” at the W. M. Keck Observatory headquarters, located at 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, in Waimea. The exhibit runs from May 20 to September 22. Public viewing of Goldstein’s art will be available during Keck Observatory’s monthly astronomy […]
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