The
W.M. Keck telescopes are the two largest
telescopes of the
Mauna Kea Observatory on
Mauna Kea in
Hawai'i. These are reflecting telescopes located at an altitude of 4,145 m (13,600 ft).
Keck I started observing in
1993 and
Keck II started in
1996. This is a
Ritchey-Chrétien type of telescope on an altazimuth mount, assisted by
active optics. The Keck telescopes have, essentially, 10m mirrors; however, rather than having one mirror each telescope has 36 smaller
hexagonal mirrors working together. In addition, Keck I and II can work together, via
interferometry; this gives them the effective power of an 85m mirror.
The telescopes are owned by the University of California and Caltech.
External Links
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