Keck Telescopes

Keck II Telescope interior

The two largest optical and infrared telescopes currently in use. Located at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, both have primary mirrors 10 meters (33 ft) in diameter, made from 36 1.8-meter-wide hexagonal segments. A computer-controlled system of sensors and actuators adjusts the position of each segment relative to its neighbors, twice a second, to an accuracy of 4 nanometers. Each telescope has 4 times the light-gathering power of the famous 5-m Hale Telescope and 17 times that of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Keck I began scientific observations in May 1993 and Keck II in October 1996. Attached to Keck I is HIRES, the High Resolution Échelle Spectrometer, used in the search for extrasolar planets (see San Francisco State University Planet Search). Among the instruments fitted to Keck II is MIRLIN, the Mid-InfraRed Large-well Imager, capable of showing detail in circumstellar disks and thereby shedding light on the process of planet formation.

Related category

• OBSERVATORIES AND TELESCOPES

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