Keck telescope

This segmented mirror telescope was quite successful and due to its success, funds were acquired to make a second Keck telescope, and it was positioned to allow the two Keck telescopes to be used for interferometry as well as for individual telescope observing. 

The success of the Keck telescopes led to a Spanish project Gran Telescopic Canarias (GTC) to build a 10-m telescope on the Canary Islands in La Palma. This telescope is similar to the Keck, and should be operational in 2006. 

Chanan, G., Troy, M., Ohara, C., 2000, "Phasing the primary mirror segments of the Keck telescopes a comparison of different techniques", SPIE 4003, 188... 

Another possibility for optimizing the diameter-to-thickness ratio of a substrate for a mirror of large diameter is being realized by the California Association for Research in Astronomy (CARA) with the Keck Telescope on... 

Even prior to the completion of the first Keck Telescope, a second one has been erected to double the amount of light collected when the output of both telescopes is brought to interference. At the same time, the distance and location between the telescopes will improve the resolution of the total system. 

Also in the next decade the number and quality of adaptive optics systems will increase. Adaptive optic systems are planned or in use at both Keck telescopes, the VLT... 

The 10m W.M. Keck Telescope is the first of the new generation of ground-based optical-infrared telescopes. The first of the facility instruments to be used on the telescope was the Near Infirared Camera (NIRC). The NIRC had a commissioning run that served to demonstrate the science performance of the telescope/instrument in March 1993. 

The facility near infrared camera (NIRC) was used on the W.M. Keck telescope for a series of science demonstration observations in March 1993. These observations have served to demonstrate that the telescope delivers excellent images and can hold those images for wedcs. The telescope tracking under autoguider control is commensurate with the image quality. The performance of the camaa is consistent with that expected for an instrument on a 10-m telescope. 

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