W. M. Keck Observatory

An astronomical observatory on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, operating the twin 10-meter Keck I and Keck II telescopes. Its large segmented mirrors and adaptive optics support observations across visible and infrared wavelengths.

Keck I: The first of the W. M. Keck Observatory’s twin 10-meter telescopes, which began scientific operations in 1993. Its 36-segment primary mirror established the observatory’s large-aperture design.
William Myron Keck: An American oil-industry entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the W. M. Keck Foundation. His foundation financed the observatory’s construction.
Exoplanet: A planet that orbits a star beyond the Solar System. Keck’s spectrographs measure stellar motions used to detect and characterize exoplanets.
Subaru Telescope: An 8.2-meter optical and infrared telescope operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan on Mauna Kea. It shares Keck’s mountain site but uses a single, monolithic primary mirror.
Large Binocular Telescope: An optical and infrared telescope with two 8.4-meter mirrors mounted side by side. Keck’s segmented-mirror engineering helped establish the feasibility of very large ground-based telescopes.
Keck II: The second 10-meter telescope at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which began scientific operations in 1996. It complements Keck I with a separate instrument suite and adaptive-optics system.
W. M. Keck Foundation: A private philanthropic foundation established by William Myron Keck in 1954. Its 1985 grant enabled construction of the first Keck telescope.
Radial velocity method: A planet-detection technique that infers orbital motion from shifts in a star’s spectrum. Keck observations have used this method to identify planets through stellar wobble.
Gemini Observatory: An international observatory operating twin 8.1-meter telescopes in Hawaii and Chile. Its two-site design offers sky coverage that Keck’s Hawaii-only facility does not.
Extremely large telescope: A ground-based telescope with a primary mirror roughly 20 meters or larger in diameter. Keck’s success helped pave the way for the next generation of giant observatories.

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