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TWO NEW PLANETARY SYSTEMS DISCOVERED
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (January 9th, 2001) The world’s leading team of planet-hunting astronomers announced today at the winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society the discovery of two multi-planet systems that are among the most bizarre planetary systems found to date. One system calls into the question the very meaning of the term “planet,” said […]
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KECK IMAGES OF NEPTUNE BEST EVER CAPTURED
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (October 1st, 2000) Astronomers observing with the adaptive optics instrument on the Keck II Telescope have obtained the best pictures yet of the planet Neptune, showing an upper atmosphere rich with moving features such as vortices, waves and narrowly spaced bands of clouds similar to those present around Jupiter. The team – […]
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KECK ASTRONOMERS OBSERVE ACCELERATION OF STARS AT CENTER OF MILKY WAY GALAXY
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (September 21st, 2000) In an historic first, astronomers from the University of California-Los Angeles have observed acceleration in the velocities of individual stars orbiting the gigantic black hole at the center of our galaxy. The astronomers, led by Andrea Ghez, UCLA professor of physics and astronomy, reported on five years of Keck […]
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U.S. POSTAL SERVICE ISSUES “FAMOUS OBSERVATORY” STAMP SET
On July 9, 2000, the U.S. Postal Service included the distinctive twin domes of Keck in set of six, now available at select post offices and by special order from the U.S. Postal Service.
Read More >UH REGENTS APPROVE MAUNA KEA MASTER PLAN
HONOLULU, Hawaii (June 16th, 2000) The University of Hawai’i Board of Regents today approved a Master Plan for future uses of the Mauna Kea Science Reserve atop the state’s highest mountain. In a separate vote, Regents approved the immediate establishment of the Office of Management – called for in the Master Plan, and administratively placed […]
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KECK ASTRONOMERS DISCOVER PLANETS SMALLER THAN SATURN
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (March 29th, 2000) With the number of planets discovered orbiting suns beyond our Solar system now at 30 and counting, astronomers at the W.M. Keck Observatory have made an astonishing advance in the hunt for extra-solar planets. In a press conference today (Wednesday, March 29, 2000) at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., […]
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ASTRONOMERS WITNESS SILHOUETTE OF PLANET CROSSING DISTANT STAR
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (November 7th, 1999) have witnessed for the first time a distant planet passing in front of its star, providing direct and independent confirmation of the existence of extrasolar planets that to date have been inferred only from the wobble of their star. “This is the first independent confirmation of a planet, and […]
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ASTRONOMERS DISCOVER SIX NEW PLANETS ORBITING NEARBY STARS
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (November 1st, 1999) Searching the night skies with the Keck I telescope, the world’s most prolific team of planet hunters has found six new planets orbiting nearby stars, bringing the total number of planets detected outside our solar system to 28. The researchers also found evidence suggesting that two previously discovered planets […]
Read More >ASTRONOMERS TOUT GAMMA-RAY BURSTS AS PROBES INTO EARLY UNIVERSE
WAIMEA, Hawaii (October 22nd, 1999) Gamma-ray bursts and their X-ray and optical afterglows have surpassed quasars as the most distant probes of the early universe, according to new calculations performed by University of Chicago astronomers. Don Lamb Jr., a Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics at Chicago, will describe the cosmological implications of gamma-ray bursts at […]
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LARGEST EXPLOSIONS IN UNIVERSE MAY COME FROM DEATH OF MASSIVE STARS
WAIMEA, Hawaii (September 29th, 1999) Cosmic gamma-ray bursts, the brightest known explosions in the universe, may come from the fiery deaths of very massive stars in supernova explosions, a team of astronomers said today. In a paper published Wednesday, Sept. 29, 1999, in the international science-journal Nature, an international team led by the California Institute […]
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