Saturn Observing Run Live from Keck Observatory
The Keck Observatory will be LIVE streaming Saturn’s aurora an actual observing run from the mighty Keck II.
On Sunday 3am to 5am Hawaiian Standard Time (GMT -10) there will be an actual observation run with astronomers: Kevin Baines (JPL), Tom Stallard (University of Leicester) and Steve Miller (University College London). They will be looking at Saturn’s aurora using the NIRSPEC instrument on Keck II, in a attempt to lead to a deeper understanding of the coupling between Saturn’s magnetosphere and upper atmosphere.
Click here to watch the stream.
Read more at: http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=fdf2959cb7c940eb5818825d4&id=078f955874&e=7e34c1daab
Private Foundations Fund New Astronomy Tool at The W. M. Keck Observatory
July 10, 2012
Kamuela, HI – The W. M. Keck Observatory has been awarded two major grants to help build a $4 million laser system as the next leap forward in a technology which already enables ground-based telescopes to exceed the observational power of telescopes in space. The new laser, when installed on the current adaptive optics system on the Keck II telescope, will improve the performance of the system and advance future technology initiatives.
Read more at: http://keckobservatory.org/news/1.5_million_for_next_generation_laser
‘First Light’ of Powerful New Science Instrument
Keck Observatory is celebrating the first two nights of viewing the heavens with MOSFIRE. Installed on the Keck I telescope, MOSFIRE (Multi-Object Spectrometer For Infra-Red Exploration) has been many years in the making and is expected to vastly increase the data gathering power of what is already the world’s most productive ground-based observatory.
We’ve collected the “first light” images from the first two nights of MOSFIRE’s commissioning, as well as a video showing the instrument being inserted into the back of the telescope.
Click here to see it all and to read more about MOSFIRE’s unique capabilities.
New Keck Astronomy Talks Online:
- The Accelerating Universe: On the Secrets of Dark EnergyDr. Brain Schmidt, Australian National University, March 20, 2012.
- From Hot Jupiters to Habitable Planets Dr. Debra Fischer, Yale University, Feb. 27, 2012.
- Seeing the Invisible Universe Dr. Tom Soifer, Caltech, Feb. 9, 2012.
- Discovering Dark Stars Dr. Adam Burgasser, U.C. San Diego, Jan. 24, 2012.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: May 10, 2012 Keck Astronomy Talk at the Kahilu Theater in Waimea
U.C. Riverside astronomer Dr. Brian Siana will present “How Stars
Destroyed Most of the Atoms in the Universe.” This talk will be streamed
live on the Internet via the Keck Observatory website
W. M. Keck Observatory Presents City Dark: Search for Night on a Sleepless Planet with Dr. Richard Wainscoat
W. M. Keck Observatory Presents
City Dark: Search for Night on a Sleepless Planet
Dr. Richard Wainscoat
University of Hawai’i Institute for Astronomy
The advent and spread of electrical lighting has made it ever harder to find the dark skies valued by professional and amateur astronomers, not to mention lovers of starry skies in general. Dr. Wainscoat tells the story about light pollution and astronomy, with special emphasis on light pollution’s effects on the world’s best astronomical observing site: Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Dr. Wainscoast is an astronomer as well as an accomplished photographer.
This event also will be webcast live via the Keck Observatory website.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
7:00 PM
at the Kahilu Theatre
Free and Open to the Public
Doors Open at 6:30 PM
Upcoming Events
May 10, 2012: “How Stars Destroyed Most of the Atoms in the Universe,” a talk by Dr. Biana Siana, of the University of California at Riverside.
June 5, 2012: Transit of Venus, a live webcast from the summit of Mauna Kea.
June 7, 2012: “Transits of Venus from Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn: Past, Present, and Future,” a talk by Dr. Jay Pasachoff, Caltech.
W. M. Keck Observatory
65-1120 Mamalahoa Hwy.
Kamuela, HI 96743 Phone: 808.881.3827
Email: information@keckobservatory.org
Website: www.keckobservatory.org
Keck Observatory Hosts Live Webcast of an Astronomy talk by Dr. Tom Soifer of Caltech
On Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, Keck Observatory will be hosting a live webcast of an astronomy talk by Dr. Tom Soifer of Caltech. The title of the talk is “Seeing the Invisible Universe.” Dr. Soifer also serves as the Director of the Spitzer Science Center and is a member of the Keck Observatory Board of Directors.
The webcast begins at 7 pm Hawaiian Time, 9 pm Pacific Time (5 am GMT, Feb 10) and will be streamed from the Kahilu Theatre in Waimea-Kamuela, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Watch in the window below, or click on the UStream link.
The live webcast will play in the box below beginning at 7 pm HST / 9 pm U.S. PST, or can be found via the Keck Observatory Facebook page.
Uranus Like Planet Discovered Orbiting Red Dwarf
Astronomers using Keck Observatory observations released today a pre-print of their announcement paper about the discovery of a Uranus like planet orbiting a star called GJ 876. The star is a red dwarf star and this isn’t its first extrasolar planet to be announced. In the words of the authors: “This otherwise unassuming red dwarf has produced the first example of a giant planet orbiting a low-mass star, the first instance of a mean-motion resonance among planets, the first clear-cut astrometric detection of an extrasolar planet, and one of the first examples of a planet in the hitherto unknown mass regime between Earth and Uranus.” Learn more about this Uranus-sized planet online now here.