![]() ![]() We did not know whether our own solar system or our own Earth were common,” said Sherry Yeh, deputy instrument scientist for KPF at Keck Observatory. “Prior to the recent exoplanet discovery boom over the last two decades, we did not really know what other planets were out there. It is now poised to begin observing distant worlds with great precision in an effort to answer one of the most compelling questions in astronomy: Are we alone? 9, the KPF team successfully captured a first light spectrum of Jupiter with the next-generation instrument, followed by a spectrum of KPF’s first star, 51 Pegasi, which hosts 51 Pegasi b - the first planet orbiting a Sun-like star that was discovered using the Doppler method. “We have been awaiting the arrival of for nearly a decade, and we are thrilled to be able to take our already very successful exoplanet discovery program to the next level.”Īndrew Howard, KPF principal investigator and a professor of astronomy at Caltech, said: “I’m excited to use the instrument to study the great diversity of exoplanets and to tease apart the mysteries of how they formed and evolved to their present states.” “The advent of marks a major and exciting step forward in our ability to advance the quest to eventually find habitable Earth-like planets around other stars,” said Hilton Lewis, director of Keck Observatory. The Keck Planet Finder (KPF), operating on the Keck I Telescope, is the world’s most advanced high-resolution spectrometer for visible wavelengths. Keck Observatory/Caltech/Keck Planet Finder Team The Keck Planet Finder achieved “first light” on Nov. When the images were captured, team members popped champagne to celebrate the beginning of an “exciting chapter” in the search for Earth-sized planets around other stars, which are extraordinarily difficult to detect due to their small size, according to a news release from the observatory. Keck Observatory on Maunakea achieved “first light” on Wednesday night by capturing data from the sky, a spectrum of the planet Jupiter. ![]() A new planet-hunting instrument at the W. ![]()
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