News
Cosmic Matters
W. M. Keck Observatory Achieves First Light with LRIS Upgrade
Maunakea, Hawaii – W. M. Keck Observatory’s science community is celebrating the successful revitalization of the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, or LRIS – one of the Observatory’s acclaimed instruments used in Nobel Prize-winning research. The instrument team tasked with the LRIS rescue mission has completed a 2-night engineering run; within hours of the first night […]
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UH Astronomers and Maunakea Observatories to Help Map the Universe’s First Galaxies
Maunakea, Hawaii – University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA) astronomers will play an instrumental role in helping unveil the universe’s very first galaxies, more than 13 billion light years away. This week, NASA announced the first suite of science programs for its groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), set to launch in October 2021. The IfA researchers are part of the “COSMOS-Webb” project, which […]
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Discovery of a Single Fast Radio Burst’s Home Galaxy Wins Prestigious Award
W. M. Keck Observatory Astronomers Among the Authors Awarded the 2020 AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize Maunakea, Hawaii – A historic feat in successfully zeroing in on the precise location of a non-repeating fast radio burst has earned the highest recognition from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The international team that made […]
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Beyond the Impossible
Maunakea, Hawaii – W. M. Keck Observatory presents its new film, “Beyond the Impossible,” which made its public debut on December 17, 2020, with over 300 people in attendance for the virtual screening. The documentary picks up the story after the twin Keck I and Keck II telescopes achieved first light and chronicles the exciting […]
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W. M. Keck Observatory and REC Solar Announce Completion of Major Sustainability Project in Hawaii
Maunakea, Hawaii– In its commitment to reduce the organization’s carbon footprint and lower the cost of energy, W. M. Keck Observatory and Duke Energy’s REC Solar are pleased to announce the completion and operation of a solar project atop Maunakea on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. The solar photovoltaic (PV) system is on the rooftop […]
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Adaptive Optics: Providing Clarity to Observations
Maunakea, Hawaii – Dr. Peter Wizinowich, based at W. M. Keck Observatory on Hawaii Island, is an engineer who specializes in optical sciences in astrophysics. His work involves using adaptive optics to improve the imaging capabilities of some of the world’s largest telescopes. In 1608, Dutch eyeglass maker Hans Lippershey patented the world’s first telescope […]
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W. M. Keck Observatory’s Adaptive Optics System Upgraded to ‘See’ in Infrared
Maunakea, Hawaii – W. M. Keck Observatory can now provide adaptive optics (AO) correction using light from cosmic objects at wavelengths invisible to the naked eye. Near-infrared AO wavefront sensing, in addition to sensing in visible light, is a new capability on the Keck II telescope thanks to a major upgrade, which involves the installation […]
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Review Of NSF’S Top Transformative Astronomy Tech Highlights Maunakea Observatories
Maunakea, Hawaii – A new study is shining a national spotlight on astronomy in Hawaii, underscoring the world-class science enabled by Maunakea Observatories’ cutting-edge technology. The study evaluates the 30-year history of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation (ATI) program, which encourages ground-based telescopes to develop innovative instrumentation, even at high technical […]
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Gary A. Chanan Receives 2020 Award for Advancement of Basic and Applied Science
W. M. Keck Observatory congratulates Dr. Gary A. Chanan, a pioneer and innovator in the field of telescope optics who played an important role in the Observatory’s segmented mirror technology. Chanan graduated from Yale in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and Physics, embarking on a career that would prove foundational to […]
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New Image Offers Close-up View of Interstellar Comet
Maunakea, Hawaii – Astronomers at Yale University are getting a fresh glimpse of a visitor from another star; using W. M. Keck Observatory, they captured a new image of 2I/Borisov, the very first interstellar comet we know of to enter into our Solar System. The alien traveler, first spotted this summer, is steadily getting brighter […]
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