A night at the Keck

Swinburne University of Technology astronomers will share their stories of discovery using twin 10-metre telescopes at the W M Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii at a free public lecture on 18 July. Each year since 2008, Swinburne astronomers have had 15 nights' exclusive access to the world's leading optical/infrared telescopes. Using the observatory's cutting-edge instrumentation, astronomers have produced amazing discoveries about the Universe. Over the past three years alone, direct access to the Keck Observatory has enabled Swinburne astronomers to make discoveries such as the diamond planet, the emerald-cut galaxy, an ultra-compact dwarf galaxy, and more recently the discovery of a new supernova located in the outskirts of a galaxy some 100 million light years away. Some of these discoveries are now being made via a remote control room in the middle of Swinburne's Hawthorn campus, more than 9000 kilometres away from the Keck Observatory.