KPIC Archives

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Stellar Cartography, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A New Spin On Planet Formation

by Keith CowingMarch 21, 2026March 21, 2026

Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island, have confirmed a long-predicted relationship between planetary mass and rotation.

The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) connects the Keck II AO system and the Keck/NIRSPEC high-resolution infrared spectrograph (https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/nirspec/) via a linear bundle of four single-mode fibers spaced by ~800 mas on the sky. Single-mode fibers provide a more stable quasi-Gaussian line spread function. Their small angular size, matched to the diffraction limit (FWHM~50 mas in K band), also provides excellent sky background rejection, as well as reduces the off-axis starlight injection into the single mode fibers. Currently, KPIC uses the Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensors for AO. Larger image

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

The High-contrast Performance of the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer

by Keith CowingJune 24, 2024June 24, 2024

The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC), a series of upgrades to the Keck II Adaptive Optics System and Instrument Suite, aims to demonstrate high-resolution spectroscopy of faint exoplanets that […]