Media
Cosmic Videos
Astronomy Talk: Spectroscopy: How Astronomy Really Gets Done
Everyone knows a picture is worth a thousand words, but a spectrum is worth at least a thousand pictures. The history of spectroscopy is intricately linked with every major discovery in astronomy and astrophysics in the last 120 years. In this talk, Dr. O’Meara, Chief Scientist at Keck Observatory, will take a brief tour through […]
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Astronomy Talk: Quest for the Spirit of Ānuenue: Chasing Rainbows
University of Hawai`i Professor Steven Businger will offer a layman’s look at the cultural and historical significance of rainbows in Hawai`i. He will also present the science behind rainbow phenomenon and why Hawai`i is the best place in the world for observing rainbows. His talk will include a visually stunning tour of the variety of […]
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Astronomy with Keck Observatory (Virtual): Connecting to Other Worlds
What distant worlds are out there? What are they like? What can they teach us about our place in the universe? You are already connected to other worlds, both real and fictitious, through space-time, art, astronomy, and your imagination. Astronomer Dr. Lauren Weiss from the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy will take us on […]
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Astronomy Talk: PŌWEHI Hawaii and the Event Horizon Telescope
Join us to talk story about the groundbreaking results from the Event Horizon Telescope and the pioneering role the Maunakea Observatories played in this nearly-impossible experiment. We will also explore the way in which Hawaiian language and culture are enriching astronomy with a bridge to a new, yet old, understanding of the cosmos. Guest […]
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Astronomy with Keck Observatory (Virtual): Through the Eyes of an Astronomer: Cosmic Discoveries at Keck Observatory
The W. M. Keck Observatory has been in operation for more than 25 years as the world’s largest optical and infrared telescopes. Observations made at Keck Observatory have fundamentally changed our understanding of the universe. In this talk, Dr. Josh Walawender will share his favorite Keck Observatory discoveries and explain how they’ve rewritten astronomy textbooks. […]
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Astronomy Talk: In Search of the Ultimate Ruler: The Grand Challenge of Distances in Astronomy
Even with the most powerful telescopes and instrumentation, astronomy faces a fundamental problem: the ability to determine the distance to objects in the cosmos. From the solar system to the cosmic microwave background, the history of astronomy is intertwined with the hunt for a better distance measure. This talk will trace that history and that […]
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Astronomy Talk: A Primitive Planetesimal in the Kuiper Belt Explored by New Horizons
NASA’s New Horizons mission broke records on New Year’s Day 2019 after encountering the most distant object in our solar system ever explored by a spacecraft – a small Kuiper Belt object named 486958 2014 MU69, also known as Ultima Thule. The peanut-shaped object’s distinct shape, called a contact binary, holds important clues about how […]
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Astronomy Talk: Exploring Planets Orbiting Nearby Stars
The NASA Kepler mission revealed that our Galaxy is teeming with planetary systems and that Earth-sized planets are common, but most of the planets Kepler detected orbit stars that are too faint to permit detailed study. Excitingly, the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) launched in April 2018 and is expected to find hundreds of […]
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Astronomy Talk: Dark Energy And The Runaway Universe
We expected the attractive force of gravity to slow down the rate at which the universe is expanding. However, observations made at Keck Observatory of very distant exploding stars show that the expansion rate is actually speeding up. Over the largest distances, the universe seems to be dominated by a mysterious, repulsive “dark energy” that […]
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Astronomy Talk: Universe in Reverse, The Keck Time Machines: What’s New in the Young Universe?
What’s new in the young universe? Shortly after the Big Bang, our universe has been measured to have been almost amazingly uniform. Fortunately for our existence, it didn’t stay that way long. The excess gravity of slightly over-dense regions slowed their expansion and eventually caused them to collapse into the first galaxies, forming the first […]
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