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Measuring 387 inches and 9.82 m, the Keck telescope is known as the world's largest optical telescope. Formerly, the Hale telescope was the largest instrument of its kind until the Keck telescope was built in 1990. It is located at the Mauna Kea Observatory right on Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano in Hawaii. The laboratory sits as high as 4,205 m(13,796 ft.)above sea level. This high altitude provides a good view of the sky above with only a little bit of interruption from other light sources.
The instrument was designed in the form of a reflecting type. It is a telescope whose concave-shaped mirrors absorb light and shows what the focused object looks like. All in all,it consists of 36 separate hexagonal segments of mirrors. Each of these segments measures at about 2 meters(6.6 ft.) across. In modern astronomy,the Keck telescope is of great use in knowing the situation of the galaxy and how it affects the planet Earth. It also shows what is happening on the other planets.
An example of an event where the telescope showed a great importance in the field of astronomy was when the instrument showed precise and valuable images on what the planet Jupiter looked like after certain pieces of fragments from the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fell into it. Another instance was when it proved some scientists' theory that fragments of gamma rays were scattered across the galaxy after the said rays exploded. The Keck also determined and discovered that these fragments are about billions of light years away by measuring how far it is to its optical counterparts in 1997.
The building where the instrument was located is as tall as eight stories high. Placed at about ten meters across the Keck telescope is the Keck 2 which was completed in 1996. These pair of telescopes have strong resolving power which can be compared to a single telescope 90 meters in diameter. It also allowed astronomers to view distant objects throughout the universe.
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