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Cosmic Matters
50 Years Building the Telescopes
In 1987 there were 2 billion fewer people on the planet, The Simpsons were brand new to television, a first class stamp cost 22 cents and the first ?naked-eye? supernova in almost 400 years had astronomers around the world spellbound. It was also the year that a handful of bright young engineers from around the […]
Read More >How to Count to One
Generally speaking, if you want to study science, you should study the language of science, which is math. Why is it then, that when astronomers are faced with a kindergarten-level math problem like counting the observatories on Mauna Kea, they can?t agree on the answer? The reason, as it turns out, is that there?s a […]
Read More >Keeping Keck Telescopes Shiny
By Andrew Cooper A telescope is all about the primary mirror. Be it a lens or a curved mirror, the size of the primary matters. The larger the primary the more light that can be gathered, allowing astronomers to observe and analyze distant cosmic objects like exceedingly faint galaxies at the far reaches of time […]
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Astronomical Myths & Facts
This our first in what we hope becomes a series of Observatory Intelligence Quotient (O.I.Q.) quizzes. Ready, set, go! 1) TRUE or FALSE? Keck astronomers are easily identified in the streets of Waimea because they all have bloodshot eyes from spending nights looking through the eyepieces of the telescopes at nearly 14,000 feet above sea […]
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Interns Find Opportunities at Keck Observatory
Young people these days. They go through high school and college, trying to find their way in the world with gloom, doom and debt all around them. The path to becoming a highly skilled and employable worker is not easy, despite the unending media reports that America needs such people more than ever. Is it […]
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Hawaii’s Coldest, Steepest Job
Imagine scanning the Help Wanted ads and finding this: ?MEN WANTED for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success.? Yes, this was a real employment ad, but not for any job in Hawaii. It was published in England a […]
Read More >“I Am Oz, The Great and Powerful…”
When the Wizard of Oz roared that line, he was hidden behind a curtain. He knew all too well that he was not particularly great nor very powerful, and wanted no one to find out (a scheme foiled by that heroic terrier Toto). The opposite problem exists at the W. M. Keck Observatory. There is […]
Read More >Weight-Watchers Guide to the Universe: Obese Galaxies Aren’t Dieting
Humans are not alone in their struggle against an increasing waistline. Astronomers believe that galaxies too put on weight throughout their lives, growing not only by consuming hydrogen gas—which is then converted to stars—but also by cannibalizing other galaxies. It’s a galaxy-eat-galaxy cosmos, but the big surprise is that many galaxies seem to be growing […]
Read More >NSF Awards $1.72 Million to Improve Keck I Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics
This image shows the Keck I laser, which is part of the telescope’s Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics system. The laser is launched from the center of the telescope behind the secondary mirror. Credit: Andrew Cooper, WMKO. The W. M. Keck Observatory has received a $1.72 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to […]
Read More >Reverse Cosmic Lens Advances Quasar Studies
This image of the first-ever foreground quasar (blue) lensing a background galaxy (red) was taken with the Keck II telescope and its NIRC-2 instrument using laser guide star adaptive optics. Discovering more of these lenses will allow astronomers to determine the masses of quasars’ host galaxies. Credit: F. Courbin, G. Meylan, S. G. Djorgovski, et […]
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