Subscribe NASA Mega-Telescope Gears Up to Study Cosmos
Dec 5, 2007
(December 5th, 2007) NASA has selected three teams of scientists to begin studying disks of dust around nearby stars starting in February 2008, using the Keck Interferometer in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. This sophisticated new system combines the observing power of the two large Keck telescopes into a...
Keck Helps Discover Record Fifth Planet
Nov 6, 2007
Berkeley (November 6th, 2007) A team of American astronomers announced the discovery of a record-breaking fifth planet around the nearby star 55 Cancri, making it the only star aside from the sun known to have five planets. The discovery comes after 19 years of observations of 55 Cancri and...
Morning forecast on Titan calls for widespread methane drizzle off Xanadu, according to Keck, VLT im
Oct 11, 2007
(October 11th, 2007) Berkeley — Noted for its bizarre hydrocarbon lakes and frozen methane clouds, Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, also appears to have widespread drizzles of methane, according to a team of astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley. New near-infrared images from...
Scientists ‘Weigh’ Tiny Galaxy Halfway Across Universe
Oct 4, 2007
(October 4th, 2007) Santa Barbara, California –– A tiny galaxy, nearly halfway across the universe, the smallest in size and mass known to exist at that distance, has been identified by an international team of scientists led by two from the University of California, Santa Barbara. The...
Dark, but Light: Smallest Galaxies Ever Seen Solve a Big Problem
Sep 12, 2007
Mauna Kea (September 12th, 2007) Mauna Kea scientists may have solved a discrepancy between the number of extremely small, faint galaxies predicted to exist near the Milky Way and the number actually observed. In an attempt to resolve the “Missing Dwarf Galaxy” problem, two astronomers used the...
‘One Of The Most Curious Objects In The Sky’ Delights Astronomers Again
Aug 29, 2007
Mauna Kea (August 29th, 2007) Edwin Hubble once called IC 10 “one of the most curious objects in the sky,” and new observations of the extremely faint, lightweight dwarf galaxy are giving scientists new clues about how populations of stars are born. Though the properties of stars is one of the...
Scientists Study Changes In Planets Rings
Aug 23, 2007
Berkeley (August 23rd, 2007) As the rings of Uranus swing edge-on to Earth – a short-lived view we get only once every 42 years – astronomers observing the event are getting an unprecedented, glare-free view of the rings and the fine dust that permeates them. The rings were discovered in 1977,...
Polluted Dead Star Indicates Planets Like Earth May Have Formed Around Other Stars
Aug 16, 2007
Los Angeles (August 16th, 2007) The chemical fingerprint of a burned-out star indicates that Earth-like planets may not be rare in the universe and could give clues to what our solar system will look like when our sun dies and becomes a white dwarf star some five billion years from...
Keck Confirms Largest Exoplanet To Date
Aug 6, 2007
Mauna Kea (August 6th, 2007) An international team of astronomers has discovered the largest-radius and lowest-density exoplanet of all those whose mass and radius are known. It is a gas-giant planet about twice the size of Jupiter, and is likely to have a curved comet-like tail. It has been named...
‘Blue Needle’ Presents New Challenge for Theorists
Jul 19, 2007
Mauna Kea (July 19th, 2007) Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to study disks of debris around stars have found one that is extremely lopsided. While scientists are accustomed to finding asymmetrical accumulations of dust and larger bodies around...
Astronomers Find Most Distant Known Galaxies
Jul 10, 2007
Pasadena, Calif. (July 10th, 2007) Using natural “gravitational lenses,” an international team of astronomers claim to have found the first traces of a population of the most distant galaxies yet seen-the light we see from them today left more than 13 billion years ago, when the universe was just...
Astronomers Measure Mass of Largest Dwarf Planet
Jun 14, 2007
Baltimore (June 14th, 2007) W. M. Keck Observatory and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have teamed up to precisely measure the mass of Eris, the largest member of a new class of dwarf planets in our solar system. Eris has 27 percent more mass than Pluto, formerly the largest member of the Kuiper Belt...
‘OLYMPIAN GALAXY’ NEAR ANDROMEDA GIVES CLUES TO HOW GALAXIES FORM
May 28, 2007
Honolulu (May 28th, 2007) A newly discovered dwarf galaxy in the Local Group has been found to have formed in a region of space far from our own and is falling into our system for the first time in its history, according to new data obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory. An international team of...
Adaptive optics pinpoints two supermassive black holes in colliding galaxies
May 17, 2007
Santa Cruz (May 17th, 2007) Astronomers have used powerful adaptive optics technology at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii to reveal the precise locations and environments of a pair of supermassive black holes at the center of an ongoing collision between two galaxies 300 million light-years...
Brightest Supernova Ever Seen
May 7, 2007
Berkeley (May 7th, 2007) An exploding star first observed last September is the largest and most luminous supernova ever seen, according to University of California, Berkeley, astronomers, and may be the first example of a type of massive exploding star rare today but probably common in the very...
“Red Square” Captured by Palomar and Keck Telescopes
Apr 11, 2007
Pasadena (April 11th, 2007) Astronomers announced the arrival of a new member in the pantheon of exotically beautiful celestial objects. Christened the “Red Square” by Peter Tuthill, leader of the team, the image was compiled with data from the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory, owned...
Fundamental Property of Galaxies Discovered at W. M. Keck Observatory
Mar 6, 2007
Kamuela (March 6th, 2007) A new study using data collected by the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii has revealed that certain fundamental properties of galaxies have actually changed very little over the last 8 billion years, nearly half of the age of the universe. According to the research, the...
‘Comet Galaxy’ Ripped Apart by Galaxy Cluster
Mar 2, 2007
Garching, Germany (March 2nd, 2007) The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, in collaboration with several other ground- and space-based telescopes including Keck, has captured a galaxy being ripped apart by a galaxy cluster’s gravitational field and harsh environment. The finding sheds light on the...
Earthquake Update from W. M. Keck Observatory
Feb 28, 2007
Kamuela (February 28th, 2007) The Observatory has returned to standard operating procedures after a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of Hawaii October 15, 2006. The earthquake was the largest to hit Hawaii in 20 years. There were no injuries at W. M. Keck Observatory and no damage...
Large Survey Identifies Young Binaries To Test Models Of Star Formation
Jan 10, 2007
Seattle (January 10th, 2007) Results from the largest survey of its kind conducted at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii provide data to test theories describing how small, relatively cool, but numerous “M-class” stars are born and change over time. The results will help scientists understand...
First Planet-Forming Disk Found in the Environment of a Dying Star
Jan 9, 2007
Seattle (January 9th, 2007) Astronomers generally assume that the dusty disks where planets form are found around young stars in stellar nurseries. Now, for the first time, a protoplanetary disk has been found in the environment of a dying star. A team of astronomers is reporting today at the...
First Triple Quasar Discovered at W. M. Keck Observatory
Jan 8, 2007
Seattle (January 8th, 2007) Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory have discovered a triple quasar. Quasars are powerful sources of electromagnetic energy, which includes radio waves and light. They are believed to be powered by supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies. While...
Astronomers Discover Enormous Halo of Red Giant Stars Orbiting Andromeda
Jan 7, 2007
Seattle (January 7th, 2007) Astronomers have found an enormous halo of stars bound to the Andromeda galaxy and extending far beyond the swirling disk seen in images of the famous galaxy, our nearest large galactic neighbor. The discovery, reported at the American Astronomical Society meeting in...
