http://www.keckobservatory.org/keck.xml clean Astronomy from the W. M. Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii Famous astronomers share recent discoveries from Keck Observatory headquarters in Kamuela, Hawaii. W. M. Keck Observatory Keck,Gemini,Hubble,HST,astronomy,stars,infrared,Hawaii,Mauna Kea,science,caltech,UC,NASA,alien en-us 2005-2007 W M Keck Observatory W M Keck Observatory newsletter@keck.hawaii.edu http://www.keckobservatory.org/Keck.jpg http://www.keckobservatory.org Musings from astronomers at the W. M. Keck Observatory http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast.php Wed, 21 Dec 2005 04:04:00 -1000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss newsletter@keck.hawaii.edu Understanding the birth of planets has been a long-sought goal--the key to learning about Earth and the possible types of solar systems orbiting other stars. What are Mauna Kea Observatories telling us about our cosmic origins? What amazing discoveries are being made with the most technologically advanced telescopes in the world? Dr. Michael Liu helps us to find the answers. Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/21_5472.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/21_5472.mp3 UCLA astronomer Dr. James Larkin talks about reserch using OSIRIS. OSIRIS is the newest instrument at Keck and is designed to dissect small patches of the sky in unprecedented detail. It has already been applied to study the moons of Jovian planets, the black hole at the center of our Galaxy, some of the most distant galaxies and many objects in between. This talk will describe how the instrument works and then describe many of the discoveries from its first year of science. Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:00:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/19_5468.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/19_5468.mp3 From the "Evenings with Astronomers" series. Dr. Edward C. Stone, the David Morrisroe Professor of Physics at Caltech and one of the leading scientists of our time, has been the project scientist for the Voyager Mission since 1972. As the two Voyager spacecraft flew by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, they revealed a solar system with worlds of unimagined diversity. The Voyagers are now exploring the solar system's final frontier, the outermost region of a giant bubble called the heliosphere that envelops all the planets. Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:48:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/18_5467.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/18_5467.mp3 From the "Evenings with Astronomers" Series. Dr. Charles Beichman of the Michelson Science Center at Caltech talks about the 21st century tools being used to answer one of the most ancient questions: "Are there other worlds like our own?" How are astronomers probing the birthplace of stars and planets? How will scientists know if a planet supports life? Dr. Beichman explains the modern search for answers. Tue, 22 May 2007 00:48:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/17_5465.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/17_5465.mp3 Dr. Imke de Pater of the University of California at Berkely talks about how the giant planets in our solar system are surrounded with ring systems, similar to the planetary disks around stars. Within these ring systems are narrow ringlets, broad dust sheets, wavy structures and small satellites. In the summer of 2007 Uranus' rings will appear edge-on to observers on Earth, a marvelous opportunity to learn more about this system. Tue, 8 May 2007 12:00:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/16_5463.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/16_5463.mp3 From the "Evenings with Astronomers" series. In 2005, Dr. Michael Brown and his colleagues discovered 2003 UB313, now officially known as "Eris." The discovery marked the first time in 75 years that an object larger than Pluto had been found in our solar system. The discovery turned the astronomical world on its head. Scientists had to consider if size was the only metric by which to define a planet. The debate unleashed an avalanche of questions concerning planetary science and the role scientists play in defining the word "planet" for local and global communities. Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:00:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/15_5461.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/15_5461.mp3 Claire Max of the University of California at Santa Cruz. Dr. Max is a pioneer in the field of adaptive optics, a technology that compensates for the blurring of images by Earth's atmosphere. As director of the Center for Adaptive Optics, Dr. Max helps develop and apply adaptive optics technology to large, ground-based telescopes. In this talk, Dr. Max explains how recent advancements in adaptive optics have increased our knowledge about active black holes and our own solar system, particularly the planet Neptune and Saturn's moon, Titan. Tue, 13 Mar 2007 02:00:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/14_5459.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/14_5459.mp3 Dr. Taft Armandroff of the W. M. Keck Observatory kicks off the 2nd annual "Evenings with Astronomers" lecture series at the Fairmont Orchid in Hawaii, supported by the Rob & Terry Ryan Foundation. In this talk, Dr. Armandroff charts the significant technological milestones in astronomical research and describes how new technology is being applied to answer profound questions about the cosmos. Tue, 27 Feb 2007 03:00:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/13_5457.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/13_5457.mp3 Dr. J. Davy Kirkpatrick of the California Institute of Technology talks about 'failed stars' known as Brown Dwarfs. Because these objects fall between stars and planets, they have traits common to both. Brown dwarfs could possibly outnumber stars by a factor of 2 to 1, meaning the Sun's nearest neighbor in space may not be Proxima Centauri, but instead an even closer brown dwarf not yet identified. What do brown dwarfs tell us about the life of stars? Ages 14 and up. Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:30:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/12_5455.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/12_5455.mp3 Dr. Richard Ellis, Steele Professor of Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology discusses the evidence which suggests the universe began in a hot big bang nearly 14 billion years ago. Some 500,000 years after this event, astronomers believe dark clouds of hydrogen began collapsing to form the very first stars and galaxies. Observing the moment when the universe emerged from darkness is one of the frontiers in cosmology. Good progress has been made and revealed some interesting surprises. Professor Ellis describes the exciting hunt for this most prized goal - witnessing the dawn of stars and galaxies in the early universe. Ages 14 and up. Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:30:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/11_5453.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/11_5453.mp3 Dr. Richard Wainscoat of the University of Hawaii shares important information about light pollution and its social and environmental impacts. Practical tips are provided for what you can do today in your own home. Ages 10 and up. Mon, 3 Apr 2006 21:38:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/10_5451.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/10_5451.mp3 Dr. Karen Meech of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy shares results of the 'Deep Impact Mission' to a comet. The mission arrived at comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005 (UT) to learn what chemicals may have been present in the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. Ages 14 and up. Wed, 21 Dec 2005 10:06:19 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/9_5449.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/9_5449.mp3 Dr. Charles Steidel of the California Institute of Technology talks about an exciting time in our Universe, marked with supernova explosions, intensely burning quasars and star formation rates beyond anything ever seen since. These events are responsible for shaping much of the large-scale structure that we see in the Universe today, which is described. Ages 14 and up. Mon, 17 Oct 2005 05:05:17 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/8_5448.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/8_5448.mp3 Dr. Puragra Guhathakurta ("Raja") of the University of California, in collaboration with Sandra Faber, presents "The Milky Way, Schrodinger's Cat, and You," a lecture about the birth and evolution of galaxies like the Milky Way. Raja takes us back in time to the earliest imaginable instant in the history of the Universe -- an infinitesimal fraction of a second after the Big Bang. In this journey Raja provides evidence for how Quantum mechanics is responsible for the large scale structure of the Universe we see today. Ages 14 and up. Thu, 22 Sep 2005 12:00:00 -1000 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/7_5447.mp3 http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast/7_5447.mp3