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Starting (and Leveling Up) in Astrophotography from a Bortle 5 Suburb
If you live in a Bortle 5 area, in other words, your typical suburban skies where the background glow is always present, astrophotography can feel…
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What the Mauna Kea Observatories Do — Research Focus Across the Summit
After touring Mauna Kea, the biggest misconception I had to unlearn was that the summit is “a bunch of telescopes doing the same thing, just…
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JCMT and UKIRT — Two Very Different “Infrared” Eyes on Mauna Kea
After seeing the giant optical/near‑infrared Keck domes, it’s easy to assume every telescope up on Mauna Kea is chasing the same kind of light in…
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Keck I and Keck II: Twin Giants on Mauna Kea
If the Mauna Kea summit feels like a sci‑fi film set, the W. M. Keck Observatory is the scene-stealer. Keck isn’t one telescope—it’s two: Keck…
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Above the Clouds: An Introduction to the Mauna Kea Observatories and How They Came to Be
The first time you drive up the long road on Hawaiʻi Island toward Mauna Kea, it feels like you’re leaving Earth in stages. The landscape…
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Vera Rubin Telescope in Chile
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is about to reshape how we explore the universe. Nestled in the Chilean Andes, this revolutionary telescope is poised to…
Latest News
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In the Boeing Aviation Hangar at the Udvar-Hazy Center, most aircraft feel historic. The SR-71 Blackbird feels urgent—like it’s paused mid-mission. Even roped off under…
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When people say “space capsule,” they usually mean the iconic blunt-bodied crew vehicles—tiny, tough, and built to survive re-entry. But walking through the National Air…
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Also known as me drooling at Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center….. I’ve seen countless shuttle images in documentaries and mission footage, but standing under the real…
Astronomer Willy 