Keck Observatory Research Paper

The Keck Observatory in Maunakea, Hawaii has made some amazing discoveries over the years, making it one of the most powerful telescopes in the world. Hawaii is a perfect place to have an observatory because it is located on a 13,796 foot summit with very few city lights to pollute the sky around it (Keck, n.d.). Also, the atmosphere in Hawaii for the majority of the year is clear and dry offering the best look at the sky above us. According to Keck’s website, Keck Observatory consists of two optical and infrared telescopes, weighing about 300 tons each. It also has the two largest light collection mirrors on the planet. The first Keck telescope began observing in 1993, while Keck two began in 1996. Engineers at Keck have learned how to establish …show more content…
According to Elizabeth Howell, a Ph.D. student studying aerospace sciences, one of Keck’s first major discoveries was finding an exoplanet around a star by detecting the wobble it produces. It was one of the first independent confirmations of a planet. Its next major discovery was in 2000 when Keck measured the motion of stars around a black hole in the center of the Milky Way galaxy which helped astronomers determine the exact center of the Milky Way. There were two large discoveries made by Keck in 2005. The first is when it found that the diameter of the Andromeda galaxy is three times further than thought having estimates of 220,000 light years across compared to the previous estimate of 70,000 light years. The second was that Keck contributed to charting the growth of the universe and finding that the universe is expanding with the help of dark energy. The next discovery in 2008 made by the Keck observatory with help from another observatory in Hawaii, captured the first picture of an extrasolar planetary system approximately 140 light years away from Earth. It’s most recent discovery in 2009 was detecting methane on Mars, using infrared to detect the amount of methane Mars is emitting (Howell,