The W. M. Keck Observatory is a two-telescope astronomical observatory located near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, United States. The facility is operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Both telescopes feature 10 m primary mirrors, which are the largest usable on Earth and among the largest ever built.
The originalKeck I telescope saw first light in May 1990, while Keck II began operations in 1996. Together, they have made numerous discoveries, including helping to confirm the existence of dark energy and providing some of the strongest evidence yet for extrasolar planets. They have also been used to make detailed studies of objects within our own Solar System, such as Saturn’s moon Titan and Pluto.
The W. M. Keck Observatory is named after William Myron Keck, who donated $70 million towards its construction in 1986 through his foundation –the W. M .Keck Foundation– making it one of the most expensive telescopes ever built at that time . The main telescopes at the observatory are known as “Keck I” and “Keck II”, which are both reflectors with co-joined 10 meter primary mirrors; these are currently the largest single astronomical telescopes in use anywhere in the world . A third smaller 2 meter telescope called “Deimos” is used for high resolution imaging across a wide range of wavelengths from ultraviolet to near-infrared .
Both “Keck I” and “Keck II” use segmented mirrors , which means that instead of being a solid piece , each mirror is composedof 36 hexagonal segments that fit together like a honeycomb ; this allows for thermal expansionand contraction due to temperature changes throughout the day without distortingthe shape of the mirror too much . Each individual segment has its own computer -controlled actuator that can move it very precisely , so that all 36 segments work together as if they were one giantmirror . This active optics system was first used on “Keck I”; “Keck II” uses an improved versionof this technology called laser metrology , where lasers bounce off reference spheres positioned aroundthe edge of each segmented mirrorto constantly monitor their positions relativeto each other; this informationis then used to make surethat each segment remainsin its correct place during observations(a process known as “active alignment”) .