1 of 20
Keck I and II Domes at Sunset
Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory
Photo of the Keck I and II domes at sunset, used as cover art for the award-winning DVD "The Kecks of Mauna Kea."
2 of 20
Keck Observatory
Exactly how big is our universe, and what place do we have in it? Come explore the Keck Observatory, where the human mind is opened to a vast realm of new possibilities.
3 of 20
Uranus and Its Rings
Credit: Mike Brown/Caltech
An infrared shot of Uranus and its rings, taken by astronomer Mike Brown using the adaptive optics system at Hawaii's Keck Observatory.
4 of 20
NASA Spots Most Crowded Space Collision Ever
Credit: NASA/CXC/IfA/STScI/C. Ma et al.
The most crowded collision of galaxy clusters has been identified by combining information from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope and the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The system MACSJ0717.5+3745 (or MACSJ0717 for short) is located about 5.4 billion light years from Earth.
5 of 20
Neptune in Infrared Light
Credit: Mike Brown/Caltech
A shot of faraway Neptune in infrared light, captured using the adaptive optics system at Hawaii's Keck Observatory.
6 of 20
Morning Light on Twin Domes of Keck Observatory
Credit: Rick Peterson/W.M. Keck Observatory
The pre-dawn glow lights up the twin Keck domes moments before the shutters close the domes for the day.
7 of 20
Three Lasers and Light Pollution
Credit: Andrew Cooper/W. M. Keck Observatory
The Keck I Laser propagating, alongside the Keck II and Subaru lasers. WMKO Engineer Andrew Cooper took over 90 x 1minute exposures from near UKIRT on the summit ridge on May 26. The result has been combined into the attached image and a video. The image combines 23 exposures, each 1 minute long. During the exposure, the Keck II laser is aimed over the camera at the Milky Way's Galactic Center. The image also shows a car driving down the summit road which appears as a stream of light.
8 of 20
New Portrait Made of Pluto and Its Moons
Credit: David Tholen
An image of the Pluto system taken with the one of the ground-based Keck telescopes in Hawaii. The Pluto system moved with respect to the background stars during the one hour of observations, leaving the stars trailed in this image.
9 of 20
Uranus and Moon Miranda in Infrared Light
Credit: Mike Brown/Caltech
A view of Uranus in infrared light, captured by Hawaii's Keck Observatory. The moon Miranda is to the upper left of Uranus, and the moon Puck is a faint smudge to the upper right. The bright splotches on Uranus' disk are clouds.
10 of 20
Keck Telescopes in Hawaii
Credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The nearly 14,000-foot summit of Mauna Kea on Hawaii’s Big Island is home to some of the largest astronomical telescopes in the world, including Keck Observatory’s twin 10-meter reflectors (housed inside the white domes pictured above).
11 of 20
Crossing the Ring Plane of Uranus
Credit: Mark Showalter/SETI Institute
Dr. Mark Showalter and student Bekki Dawson visited Keck Observatory in 2007 to observe the Uranian ring plane crossing, when Earth crossed the ring plane of Uranus.
12 of 20
Keck I Primary Mirror
Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory
Primary mirror of the Keck I telescope.
13 of 20
Neptune and Its Moon Triton
Credit: Mike Brown/Caltech
This shot, taken in infrared light using the adaptive optics system at Hawaii's Keck Observatory, shows Neptune and its moon Triton (lower right).
14 of 20
Keck Mirror Assembly
Credit: Andrew Cooper/W. M. Keck Observatory
A shot of the primary mirror of the Keck II telescope. For scale, note the railings around the large steel platform.
15 of 20
Domes from the Air
Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory
The two Keck telescope domes are seen from the air.
16 of 20
Telescopes on Mauna Kea
Credit: Joey Stein/W. M. Keck Observatory
A bird's eye view of the telescopes on Mauna Kea.
17 of 20
Keck Telescope Interior
Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory
Interior of a Keck telescope.
18 of 20
Keck II Telescope Image of Asteroid 2005 YU55
Credit: William Merline, SWRI/W.M. Keck Observatory
This first infrared image of asteroid 2005 YU55 was captured by the Keck II telescope.
19 of 20
Telescopes on Top of Mauna Kea
Credit: Joey Stein/W. M. Keck Observatory
An aerial view of all the telescopes on top of Mauna Kea.
20 of 20
View from the Ridge
Credit: Pablo McLoud/W. M. Keck Observatory
The twin Kecks, Subaru and IRTF seen from the eastern ridge.
