Keck Observatory
Exoplanet Surveys are Leaning Towards the Possibility That our Solar System is… Normal
One of the unspoken caveats of most exoplanet discovery missions is that they only operate for a few years. Such…
One of the Oldest Stars in the Galaxy has a Planet. Rocky Planets Were Forming at Nearly the Beginning of the Universe
Would it be surprising to find a rocky planet that dates back to the very early Universe? It should be.…
Astronomers Are Sure These Are Two Newborn Planets Orbiting a Distant Star
Planet formation is a notoriously difficult thing to observe. Nascent planets are ensconced inside dusty wombs that resist our best…
Astronomers Find a Planet With Three Times the Mass of Jupiter
Jupiter is the Boss. Well, in terms of planets in our Solar System it is. It's played a huge role…
Milky Way’s Black Hole Just Flared, Growing 75 Times as Bright for a Few Hours
Even though the black hole at the center of the Milky Way is a monster, it's still rather quiet. Called…
Astronomers Detect Water in the Atmosphere of a Planet 179 Light-Years Away
Gathering detailed information on exoplanets is extremely difficult. The light from their host star overwhelms the light from the exoplanet,…
Vortex Coronagraph A Game Changer For Seeing Close In Exoplanets
A new instrument installed on the Keck Observatory allows astronomers to see exoplanets that are very close to their stars.
Eris’ Moon Dysnomia
Ask a person what Dysnomia refers to, and they might venture that it's a medical condition. In truth, they would…
Power Up! Distant Uranus Sees A Storm Surge Of ‘Monstrous’ Proportions
Who can imagine Uranus as a quiet planet now? The Keck Observatory caught some spectacular pictures of the gas giant…
Hubble Spots Farthest Lensing Galaxy Yet
Sometimes there’s a chance alignment — faraway in the universe, where objects are separated by unimaginable distances measured in billions of…