Media
Cosmic Videos
Astronomy Talk: Keck Observatory And The Ongoing Exoplanet Revolution
Guest Speaker: Chas Beichman Executive Director NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI) The exoplanet revolution began in 1995 with the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of a “Hot Jupiter” orbiting the sun-like star 51 Pegasi. Thousands of planets have since been detected in the succeeding two decades, many of them either found by or validated with Keck Observatory. […]
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Astronomy Talk with Keck Observatory (Virtual): Advances in Keck Instrumentation and Future Discovery
The W. M. Keck Observatory telescopes are among the most scientifically productive on Earth. The two 10-meter optical/infrared telescopes on the summit of Maunakea on the Island of Hawaii feature a suite of advanced instruments including imagers, multi-object spectrographs, high-resolution spectrographs, integral-field spectrometers, and world-leading laser guide star adaptive optics systems. With support from the […]
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Astronomy Talk: Illuminating the Origins of the Universe’s Fastest Explosions
Guest Speaker: Wen-fai Fong Assistant Professor Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University When we look at the night sky, we see a static universe. However, astronomical observational surveys have revealed that our universe is, in fact, ever-changing. This “transient” sky is owed to a myriad of cosmic events. While many sources of transient emission […]
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Astronomy Talk: Modern Astronomy on Maunakea
Guest Speaker: Bob McLaren Interim Director University of Hawai`i, Institute for Astronomy Astronomy on Maunakea originated in community efforts to revive the Hawaii Island economy following the 1960 tsunami that devastated Hilo. It quickly acquired governmental support, especially from Governor John Burns. The University of Hawai`i took a leading role, commissioning the UH 2.2-meter Telescope […]
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Astronomy Talk: The NIRSPEC Upgrade for Keck: Enhancing observations from the solar system to exoplanets and beyond
Guest Speaker: Emily Martin National Science Foundation Astronomy & Physics Fellow, UC Santa Cruz The NIRSPEC instrument upgrade was completed in December 2018, just in time to observe the fly-by of a near-Earth comet. Dr. Martin will discuss details of the NIRSPEC upgrade, from the new detectors and optics, to the repairs of 20-year-old parts. […]
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Astronomy Talk: When Machines Take Over: Astronomy in the 21st Century
Professor X describes the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and its many influences on modern astronomy. These range from automating analysis of billions of galaxies to detecting the unknown phenomena that hide within the night sky. AI will also revolutionize the approaches used to conduct and operate our telescopes, including Keck Observatory. Guest Speaker J. […]
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Astronomy with Keck Observatory (Virtual): Keck 2030
The science landscape of the 2020s is shaping up to be very different than that of the current and previous decades. In this talk, Dr. O’Meara will map out the future astronomical landscape and discuss how Keck will lead the way forward with new instrumentation, new thinking, and a new outlook. Guest Speaker JOHN […]
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Astronomy Talk: The Darkest Secrets of the Universe
From dark matter to galaxy cannibalism, black holes, time machines, gravitational waves, Schrödinger’s cat, theory of inflation, and the Big Bang, Dr. GuhaThakurta will weave these cosmic secrets into the story about the origin of the Periodic Table of elements and how complex life on Earth developed. He’ll present the birth and evolution of galaxies, […]
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Astronomy Talk: Large Space Observatories: The Missions and Designs of Chandra and James Webb Space Telescope
Large space observatories are a foundation for scientific advancement. This talk will explore the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope. Their missions, designs, construction, and testing will be explained and discussed. Some of the unique challenges for designing a large state-of-the-art observatory will be shared along with some key lessons. Guest Speaker […]
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Astronomy with Keck Observatory (Virtual): A New Surprise in the Accelerating Universe
In 1998, two essentially independent research teams made a shocking announcement, based in part on observations made with the Keck telescopes: since the measured brightness of distant supernovae (exploding stars) was fainter than predicted, the expansion of the Universe must be speeding up rather than decelerating. Since then, the evidence for cosmic acceleration, propelled by […]
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