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Keck Interferometer

Keck Interferometer

The Keck Interferometer was a ground-based instrument that combined the light from the twin Keck telescopes to create an instrument equal in power to an 85-meter telescope that could detect and study stars and planets beyond our solar system.

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Mission Statistics

Launch Date

March 12, 2001

Type

Ground-based

Target

Exoplanets

Status

Past

About the mission

The Keck Interferometer was a ground-based instrument that combined the light from the twin Keck telescopes to create an instrument equal in power to an 85-meter telescope that could detect and study stars and planets beyond our solar system.

Astronomers used the interferometer, which provided vital information about exoplanets and planetary formation, to measure the diameters of stars, disks orbiting nearby stars and the orbital characteristics of binary systems.

Instruments

  • Keck Telescopes (2)
  • Adaptive optics system
  • Dual-star module (DSM)
  • Coude Train
  • Beam transport system
  • Delay Lines & Metrology
  • Fringe Tracker
  • Angle Tracker
  • Nulling Combiner
  • Control System

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