Media
Cosmic Videos
Keck Observatory Donor Salon Talk: Correcting the Twinkle with Adaptive Optics, with Dr. Antonin Bouchez
Guest Speaker Dr. Antonin Bouchez Head of Adaptive Optics Development at Keck Observatory Temperature and pressure variations in the Earth’s atmosphere cause stars to appear to twinkle, and the images formed by all telescopes to be slightly blurred. This is true even on Maunakea, which has some of the clearest and most stable atmospheric conditions […]
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Keck Observatory Donor Salon Talk: A Hilo Boy’s Journey of Becoming an Astronomer
Guest Speaker Dr. Devin Chu UCLA Postdoctoral Scholar Devin Chu is a postdoctoral researcher with the University of California at Los Angeles Galactic Center Group, working under the supervision of Nobel laureate Andrea Ghez. Devin grew up in Hilo and became interested in astronomy at a young age. He will share his path to becoming […]
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Keck Observatory Donor Salon Talk: The Origin of Earth-Like Planets and Their Water
Guest Speaker Dr. Lauren Weiss Assistant Professor of Physics University of Notre Dame Earth’s extensive surface liquid water, which is unique among the terrestrial planets, is a key aspect of its suitability for life. Where did that water come from, and can we expect small, rocky exoplanets to be similarly endowed? In our own solar […]
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Keck Observatory Donor Salon Talk: Seven Years of High-Cadence Solar System Observations using the ‘Twilight Zone’
Guest Speaker Dr. Ned Molter Postdoctoral Scholar, Earth and Planetary Science Department University of California at Berkeley During morning twilight, as the sun begins to rise, the visible-wavelength sky rapidly becomes too bright to observe. The infrared sky remains dark for a few more hours, allowing us to do science until the sun is shining. […]
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Keck Observatory Donor Salon Talk: A New Tool to Map Entire Galaxies
Staff Astronomer Dr. Rosalie McGurk W. M. Keck Observatory All the popular images of galaxies, while beautiful, do not provide adequate information for astronomers to measure the galaxies’ inherent properties, like the dynamics and composition of their stars and gases. Instead, astronomers study the universe by doing spectroscopy, or spreading light into its component wavelengths/colors. […]
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Astronomy Talk: Exploring the Pluto System and Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth with NASAʻs New Horizons
Guest Speaker Alan Stern Principal Investigator NASA New Horizons Mission, Southwest Research Institute NASA’s New Horizons is the first spacecraft to successfully explore the Pluto System and a Kuiper Belt Object named Arrokoth, making history as the farthest flyby ever performed in our solar system. Learn more about the mission, the scientific payload it carries, […]
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Keck Observatory Donor Salon Talk: A Stretching Gas Cloud and Other Dusty Objects that Orbit Close to the Galactic Black Hole
Guest Speaker Randy Campbell Science Operations Lead W. M. Keck Observatory The Supermassive Black Hole (SBH) at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is surrounded by a dense cluster of stars embedded in a complex structure of gas and dust. Randy will unveil recent study results on the more prominent dust and gas […]
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Keck Observatory Donor Salon Talk: Shadow the Scientists – Research as a Spectator Sport
Guest Speaker Dr. Puragra Guhathakurta Distinguished Professor, Astronomer & Department Chair, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics University of California Santa Cruz The Shadow the Scientists (StS) initiative out of UC Santa Cruz offers the opportunity for students anywhere in the world to eavesdrop via Zoom on professional astronomers as they carry out observations with […]
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Astronomy Talk: NASA: Exploring the Secrets of the Universe and Improving Life on Earth
Guest Speaker Thomas H. Zurbuchen Former Head of Science NASA Ever since NASA was established in 1958, expanding human knowledge of Earth, atmospheric phenomena, and space has been NASA’s priority. Discoveries made with both robotic and human exploration has changed how we think about the universe, our planet, and life beyond our planet. Dr. Zurbuchen […]
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Astronomy Talk: Intergalactic Immigration
Guest Speaker Jessica Werk Associate Professor, Department of Astronomy University of Washington The majority of atoms in the Milky Way, including on our planet, did not originate within our own galaxy and were likely fused in stars from long-dead satellite galaxies. These atoms have been cycling over vast scales for billions of years, swept up […]
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