News
News
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, […]
Read More >NSF Awards $1.72 Million to Improve Keck I Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics
This image shows the Keck I laser, which is part of the telescope’s Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics system. The laser is launched from the center of the telescope behind the secondary mirror. Credit: Andrew Cooper, WMKO. The W. M. Keck Observatory has received a $1.72 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to […]
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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 […]
Read More >Reverse Cosmic Lens Advances Quasar Studies
This image of the first-ever foreground quasar (blue) lensing a background galaxy (red) was taken with the Keck II telescope and its NIRC-2 instrument using laser guide star adaptive optics. Discovering more of these lenses will allow astronomers to determine the masses of quasars’ host galaxies. Credit: F. Courbin, G. Meylan, S. G. Djorgovski, et […]
Read More >Keck Observatory in the Community
Steve Doyle, an instrument and optics technician at the Observatory, checks out one of the underwater robots entered in the 2010 International R.O.V. competition. Credit: Baron Sekiya, Hawaii 24/7.com. David Lynn pulls his mask over his eyes, repositions his SCUBA tank and sinks below the water’s surface. While he could be diving anywhere along the […]
Read More >Hana Hou! features Keck Observatory
Hana Hou! editor at large Julia Steele visits the Keck Observatory and stands in front of the 10-meter Keck II telescope during her trip to research the work being done on Mauna Kea. Credit: Ashley Yeager, WMKO. In “View from the Top,” the cover story of the June/July 2010 Hana Hou!, editor Julia Steele explores […]
Read More >Zooming in on Infant Planetary Systems
Like a raindrop forming in a cloud, a star forms in a diffuse gas cloud in deep space. As the star grows, its gravitational pull draws in dust and gas from the surrounding molecular cloud to form a swirling “protoplanetary disk.” This disk eventually further consolidates to form planets, moons, asteroids and comets. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. […]
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