A black hole with the mass of 3.6 million Suns is among the discoveries made using the twin giant telescopes of the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
With domes standing at the equivalent of eight storeys in height and main mirrors measuring 10m in diameter, these are – individually – the second-largest optical telescopes in the world. Their location atop a 4,200m dormant volcano minimises the effects of clouds and turbulence. Keck I was completed in 1992; Keck II in 1996.
Image: The W. M. Keck Observatory (credit: NASA/JPL)
The Sky at Night's Dr Chris Lintott joins Dr Geoffrey Marcy on his search for extrasolar planets. Marcy explains how he uses the Keck telescope in Hawaii to search for planets around other stars.
Planet hunter Geoffrey Marcy explains how he finds planets around other stars.
Sir Patrick Moore's guest Professor Richard Ellis from the University of Oxford reviews the world's large observatories and explains their importance. [The black and white images of Edwin Hubble, George Hale, Mount Wilson, the 200-inch telescope and mirror making in this clip are copyright Palomar Observatories/Caltech]
The W. M. Keck Observatory is a two-telescope astronomical observatory at an elevation of 4,145 metres (13,600 ft) near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The primary mirrors of each of the two telescopes are 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter, making them the second largest optical telescopes in the world, slightly behind the Gran Telescopio Canarias, however the Gran Canary telescope does not have the capability to use all of it 10.4 meters, thus making the Keck telescopes the largest observable telescope in the world. The telescopes can operate together to form a single astronomical interferometer.
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