News
Cosmic Matters

The Future of Maunakea Rests in the Hands of Hawaii’s People
By Doug Simons and Hilton Lewis The international astronomical community has converged in Honolulu. The timing—in the midst of the controversy surrounding the construction of TMT on Maunakea—has motivated some who oppose TMT to engage these distinguished guests, hoping they will take a stand. Though well intended and keen to see a lasting, peaceful resolution, […]
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Keck Observatory Astronomer Wins Major Prize
UCLA professor and longtime W. M. Keck Observatory astronomer, Andrea Ghez will be awarded the 2015 Bakerian Medal, the Royal Society’s premiere prize lecture in the physical sciences, the organization announced this week. “I’m thrilled to receive the Bakerian Medal from the Royal Society,” said Ghez, who is UCLA’s Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. […]
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Pluto from Hawaii
Maunakea, Hawaii –The past two weeks have been 14 monumental days for beings on Earth interested in Pluto and its five moons. While many people think it’s pretty cool to see images of features like ice mountains on the most mysterious planet (even if it is a dwarf) in our solar system, imagine the excitement […]
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W. M. Keck Observatory Launches App KeckWatch
Kamuela, Hawaii – Today, W. M. Keck Observatory launched a new smartphone app to stoke the curiosity and wonder of astronomy. KeckWatch was built by First Light Design – the makers of category definer Distant Suns(max) – and offers mankind’s collected knowledge of the cosmos on the screen of your iOS device. In addition to being […]
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WAIMEA, HI – As those of you lucky enough to have joined us last Thursday underneath the Hawaiian stars and by the surf of Kauna’oa know, we wrapped up our 10 th season of the Evenings with Astronomers talk series. Through the generous support of Rob and Terry Ryan since 2006, the W. M. Keck Observatory each year […]
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Keck’s Cosmic Web Image Awarded Top Ten Breakthrough for 2014
MAUNA KEA, HAWAII – UC Santa Cruz astronomers who used the W. M. Keck Observatory to capture the first image of a filament of the “cosmic web” have been recognized by the editors of Physics World for one of the “Top Ten Breakthroughs of 2014”. The team, led by UC Santa Cruz astronomers Sebastiano Cantalupo (now at […]
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Walk Our Solar System
By Logan Kugler WAIMEA, HI — How would you like to take a stroll to Venus? Has your family always wanted to visit Saturn? You’ll get your chance on Saturday, November 8th at the 4th Waimea Solar System Walk. Sponsored by the Canada France Hawaii Telescope and the W. M. Keck Observatory, the Solar System Walk takes […]
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Earth and The Milky Way Just Got a Few Trillion New Neighbors
By Logan Kugler Do you know where you live? You probably know your street address and the name of your town, state, and country. But what about your cosmic address — your location among the stars? Thanks to efforts by some astronomers in Hawaii, you can now tell people you live in Laniakea. Scientists have […]
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Cosmic Matters: Stormy Weather on Uranus
Mauna Kea, Hawaii – Weather on any planet can be quite unpredictable. As hurricanes threaten the Aloha State, astronomers working at W. M. Keck Observatory on the island of Hawaii were surprised by the appearance of gigantic swirling storm systems on the distant planet Uranus. During the Voyager encounter with Uranus in 1986, only a scant handful […]
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The New York Times Profiles Geoff Marcy
The following is an excerpt from The New York Times. Click on link below to see full story. “BERKELEY, CALIF. — Last summer a homely room in the basement of a math building on the University of California campus here was ground zero in the epic quest to end cosmic loneliness. An area rug with […]
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