the latest news from the maunakea observatories
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Andrea Ghez Wins Nobel Prize In Physics
Dr. Andrea Ghez, an astrophysicist at UCLA who has been observing the Galactic Center from Maunakea for over two decades, has won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics. She is honored for her pioneering work using W. M. Keck Observatory to provide conclusive experimental evidence of a supermassive black hole with the mass of four million suns residing at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
June 16, 2022
Astronomers may now understand why the similar planets Uranus and Neptune are different colors. Using observations with the Gemini North telescope and NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on Maunakea, and the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit, researchers developed a single atmospheric model that matches observations of both planets. The model reveals that excess haze on Uranus builds up in the planet’s […]
January 7, 2022
Astronomers have found the ruins of an ancient globular cluster in the outskirts of the Milky Way. Using the Canada-France-Hawaii and Gemini North telescopes on Maunakea, in conjunction with the Gaia satellite, they showed that the motions and compositions of stars in an outer-galaxy “stream” mean that it must have originated as a globular star cluster. In fact, this stream […]
October 20, 2021
Astronomers using the Keck observatory on Maunakea have observed a planetary system located near the center of our Milky Way galaxy and provided a glimpse into the (distant) future of our own Solar System. Read more, in the W M Keck Observatory press release.
July 27, 2021
Astronomers using the Event Horizon Telescope (of which two Maunakea observatories are a part) have zoomed into Astronomers have discovered the shortest-ever gamma-ray burst (GRB) caused by the implosion of a massive star. Using the Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, astronomers identified the cause of this 0.6-second flurry of gamma rays as a supernova explosion in a distant galaxy. GRBs […]