Keck: The Largest Optical Telescopes
In buildings eight stories tall rest mirrors ten meters across that are
slowly allowing humanity to map the universe. Alone, each is the
world's
largest optical telescope: Keck.
Together, the twin Keck telescopes have the
resolving power of a single telescope 90-meter in diameter, able to discern
sources just milliarcseconds apart. Since
opening in 1992, the real power of Keck I (left) has been in its
enormous light-gathering ability - allowing
astronomers to study faint and
distant objects in
our Galaxy and the universe.
Keck II, completed last year, and its twin are located on the dormant volcano
Mauna
Kea,
Hawaii,
USA. In the distance is Maui's volcano Haleakala. One reason Keck was built was because of the
difficulty for astronomers to get funding for a smaller telescope.