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HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES OF ASTEROID (511) DAVIDA
MONTEREY, Calif. (September 1st, 2003) A team of scientists from the W.M. Keck Observatory and several other research institutions have made the first full-rotational, ground-based observations of asteroid (511) Davida, a large, main-belt asteroid that measures 320 km (200 miles) in diameter. These observations are among the first high-resolution, ground-based pictures of large asteroids, made […]
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Keck Interferometer MAKES DEBUT DISCOVERY
KAMUELA, Hawaii (July 1st, 2003) Astronomers have observed a young star ringed by a swirling disc that may spin off planets, marking the first published science observation using two linked 10-meter (33-foot) telescopes in Hawaii. The linked telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, known as the Keck Interferometer, comprise the world’s largest […]
Read More >NEW EVIDENCE FOUND ABOUT UNIVERSE’S HEAVIEST PHASE OF STAR FORMATION
PASADENA, Calif. (April 16th, 2003) New distance measurements from faraway galaxies further strengthen the view that the strongest burst of star formation in the universe occurred about two billion years after the Big Bang. Reporting in the April 17 issue of the journal Nature, California Institute of Technology astronomers Scott Chapman and Andrew Blain, along […]
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KECK OBSERVATORY’S PREMIER PLANET-HUNTING MACHINE IS GETTING EVEN BETTER
SEATTLE, Washington (January 6th, 2003) The world’s best planet-hunting machine, the Keck High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer, will be getting even better this year with an advanced imaging array that will improve efforts to detect extra-solar planets, examine distant quasars, measure extragalactic stars and do other research requiring very precise wavelength measurements of thousands of color […]
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METHANE CLOUDS DISCOVERED AT THE SOUTH POLE OF TITAN
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (December 18th, 2002) Teams of astronomers at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley have discovered methane clouds near the south pole of Titan. Titan is Saturn’s largest moon, larger than the planet Mercury, and is the only moon in our solar system with a thick atmosphere. […]
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EXCEPTIONALLY BRIGHT ERUPTION ON IO RIVALS LARGEST IN SOLAR SYATEM
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (November 13th, 2002) Routine monitoring of volcanic activity on Jupiter’s moon Io, now possible through advanced adaptive optics on the Keck II telescope in Hawaii, has turned up the largest eruption to date on Io’s surface or in the solar system. The eruption took place in February 2001, though image analysis was […]
Read More >KECK OPENS FOR COMPETITIVE ACCESS
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (October 10th, 2002) All U.S. astronomers will gain competitive access to the twin 10-meter Keck telescopes starting early next year via an innovative new National Science Foundation program administered by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). Known as the Telescope System Instrumentation Program (TSIP), this new initiative will strengthen the relationship between […]
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IO’S VOLCANIC SURFACE CAPTURED IN FULL MOTION
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (June 3rd, 2002) The highest resolution infrared global images ever taken of Jupiter’s volcanic moon, Io, are now available from the W.M. Keck Observatory and UC Berkeley in a unique animated movie and 3D Java applet. The images provide a complete survey of Io’s surface during one full rotation and demonstrate the […]
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EVIDENCE FOR YOUNG PLANETS FOUND
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (April 11th, 2002) Two independent teams of astronomers are presenting the discovery of new features in an edge-on disk around the nearby star Beta Pictoris at the Gillett Symposium on “Debris Disks and the Formation of Planets” in Tucson, Arizona. Infrared images from the W. M. Keck Observatory reveal an important clue […]
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WORLD’S LARGEST TELESCOPE CREATES A VIRTUAL STAR OVER HAWAII
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (January 4th, 2002) The W. M. Keck Observatory, home to the world’s two largest telescopes, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have created a “virtual” guide star that will greatly increase the ability of the Keck II telescope using adaptive optics to resolve fine details of astronomical objects. Installed in 1999, […]
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