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Cosmic Matters
Polynesian Paradox
The W.M. Observatory and Friends of Keck will commemorate the Keck Observatory’s 20th anniversary with Keck Week 2013 – a series of events beginning with a distinctive confluence of the brightest minds in astronomy alongside our country’s most significant scientific philanthropists. To kick-off the festivities will be a two-day feast of astronomy discourse and finely honed presentations describing Keck Observatory’s impact on astronomy by the astronomers who are making it happen.
Keck captures most detailed images of Uranus ever obtained from Earth
These two images of Uranus are composites of 117 images from 25 July 2012 (left) and 118 images from 26 July 2012 (right), all obtained with the near-infrared NIRC2 camera on the Keck II telescope. NIRC2 is coupled to Keck’s adaptive optics system, which is used to remove much of the image blur caused by […]
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Dim Gets Ridiculously Dimmer
Geese come in gaggles, bass in shoals and a crowd of crows is called a murder. Likewise, there are names for groups of stars. They come in constellations, globular clusters, dwarf galaxies and galaxies, just to name a few. With the exception of constellations (which are just chance alignments of unrelated stars), all these are […]
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Galaxies Juggling, Galaxies Square, Galaxies, Galaxies Everywhere
Sometimes the universe seems like something from Dr. Seuss. In recent weeks astronomers have demonstrated this by announcing the discovery of juggling galaxies as well as a square, emerald-cut, gem of a galaxy. With 100 billion or so more galaxies to explore out there, who knows what else they will find? Green eggs and ham, […]
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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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