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(Cosmic Matters columns are prepared by scientists and staff at W.M. Keck Observatory.) This our first in what we hope becomes a series of 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 […]

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Oxygen is good for your brain’s health, and so is a new mental challenge. Get both by exploring the frontiers of galactic science with Dr. Lisa Kewley at the Kahilu Theatre Thursday (Oct 13). Dr. Kewley will describe the remarkable history of oxygen, from the stars that create it to the air in your lungs.

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‘Every test we have made has come out perfectly in line with Einstein’s original cosmological constant in 1917’

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MEDIA RELEASE * How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming: A lecture by Caltech’s Dr. Mike Brown 7 p.m. (Hawaii time), Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011 There are now almost 6,000 members of Keck Nation around the world, which means most can’t attend our public lectures in Hawaii. Now, for the first time, […]

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MEDIA RELEASE A once-in-a-lifetime nearby stellar explosion now unfolding in a neighboring galaxy has astronomers at the W. M. Keck Observatory scrambling to ask questions that can’t be answered at any other ground-based telescope in the world. The first big question: What causes this pivotally important type of stellar cataclysm? Observing this spectacular supernova, dubbed […]

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(Cosmic Matters columns are prepared by scientists and staff at W.M. 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 […]

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(Cosmic Matters columns are prepared by scientists and staff at W.M. Keck Observatory.) 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, […]

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MEDIA RELEASE Astronomers in Hawaii have plucked unprecedented details from the life of an early galaxy using an unusually lucid gravitational lens coupled with the powerful 10-meter Keck II Telescope on Mauna Kea. Gravitational lenses are Nature’s largest telescopes, created by colossally massive clusters of thousands of galaxies that bend and magnify the light of […]

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(Cosmic Matters columns are prepared by scientists and staff at W.M. Keck Observatory.) 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 […]

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MEDIA RELEASE The W. M. Keck Observatory’s mission is to advance the frontiers of astronomy and share our discoveries with the world. Today that mission extends to sharing the creativity of some of tomorrow’s explorers who recently sat down to write their thoughts about space and astronomy as haiku poems for the Keck Observatory Astro […]

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‘Seeing a galaxy as it appeared near the beginning of the universe is an awe-inspiring feat enabled by innovative technology and the fortuitous effect of gravitational lensing’

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MEDIA RELEASE The Keck I Telescope has played a key role in unraveling the mysteries of one of the brightest supernovas ever discovered. The supernova, called Supernova 2008am, is 3.7 billion light-years away from Earth. At its peak luminosity, it was over 100 billion times brighter than the Sun. It emitted enough energy in 1 […]

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MEDIA RELEASE There is a new candidate for coldest known star: a brown dwarf with about the same temperature as a hot cup of coffee. That’s cool enough to begin crossing the blurry line between small cold stars and big hot planets. Brown dwarfs are essentially failed stars: they lack the mass and gravity to […]

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MEDIA RELEASE The 2011 Keck Astronomy Lecture Series kicks off Thursday, Jan. 20. Professor Matthew Bailes from the Swinburne University of Technology will take us on an innovative tour from Earth to deep into the heart of our Galaxy. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Seating is first come, first served. Monthly events are free and […]

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