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Science News
KECK LASER CAPTURES NEW VIEW OF DISTANT COLLIDING GALAXIES
SAN DIEGO, California (January 12th, 2005) For the first time, astronomers have been able to combine the deepest optical images of the universe, obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope, with equally sharp images in the near-infrared part of the spectrum using a sophisticated new laser guide star system for adaptive optics at the W. M. […]
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NEW CLOUDS ADD TO TITAN’S MYSTERY
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (December 15th, 2004) Using adaptive optics on the Keck II and Gemini North telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawai’i, a U.S. team has discovered a new phenomenon in the atmosphere of Saturn’s largest moon Titan. Unlike previous observations showing storms at the south pole, these new images reveal atmospheric disturbances at Titan’s temperate […]
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POLARIZED SUNGLASSES LET ASTRONOMERS TAKE CLOSER LOOK AT BLACK HOLES
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (November 11th, 2004) An international team led by an Edinburgh astronomer have discovered that by studying polarised light from black holes they can focus much more closely on what exactly is going on around them. The work is published this week in the monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on November […]
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KECK PICTURES OF URANUS SHOW BEST VIEW FROM THE GROUND
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (November 10th, 2004) Observations of Uranus conducted at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii are surprising astronomers with the level of detail they can see from the ground. Two separate teams of astronomers, one from Berkeley/SSI and one from Wisconsin, used advances in Keck adaptive optics (AO) to help make major […]
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MYSTERY OBJECT NEITHER STAR NOR BROWN DWARF
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (October 5th, 2004) Astronomers using the Keck II and Gemini North telescopes on Mauna Kea have peered inside a violent binary star system to find that one of the interacting stars has lost so much mass to its partner that it has regressed to a strange, inert body resembling no known star […]
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LASER VISION GIVES NEW EYES TO KECK TELESCOPE
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (September 17th, 2004) The Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics system at the W. M. Keck Observatory is exceeding performance expectations and is poised to revolutionize many fields of astronomy. The new guide star system, the only one of its kind on a very large telescope, allows astronomers to use adaptive optics to […]
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HAWAII SELECTED FOR PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (September 8th, 2004) Hawaii has been selected as one of 13 national sites for the Journey through the Universe program run by the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. In partnership with the Hawaii State Department of Education, the University of Hawaii at Hilo and the Keck and Gemini Observatories, the proposal […]
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KECK HELPS FIND NEW CLASS OF PLANET
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (August 31st, 2004) Astronomers announced today the first discovery of a new class of planets beyond our solar system about 10 to 20 times the size of Earth – far smaller than any previously detected. The planets make up a new class of Neptune-sized extrasolar planets. In addition, one of the new […]
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EARLY FINDINGS ABOUT THE GALACTIC CENTER TO BE PRESENTED AT KECK SCIENCE MEETING
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (August 27th, 2004) New images of the galactic center will be presented at the 2004 Keck Science Meeting on September 17 at the UCLA Campus in Los Angeles. The new pictures clearly show hot plasma material being devoured by a black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, about 24,000 […]
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KECK CONFIRMS TRANSIT PLANET
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (August 24th, 2004) Fifteen years ago, the largest telescopes in the world had yet to locate a planet orbiting another star. Today telescopes no larger than those available in department stores are proving capable of spotting previously unknown worlds. A newfound planet detected by a small, 4-inch-diameter telescope demonstrates that we are […]
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