Published: December 11, 2005
NASA's Planet-Finding Telescopes Virtual Tour Released
By Alan Gray, NewsBlaze 
Keck Interferometer Virtual Tour
Take a 360 degree virtual tour of the W.M. Keck Observatory, home of the world's largest optical and infrared telescopes. The observatory, located atop a dormant volcano 13,600 feet above the Pacific Ocean, is the site of NASA's Keck Interferometer project.
Picture: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Now astronomy and NASA buffs can take a 360 degree virtual tour of the W.M. Keck Observatory, home of the world's foremost planet-finding telescopes.
The observatory, located atop a dormant volcano 13,600 feet above the Pacific Ocean, is the site of NASA's Keck Interferometer project.
This is the kind of scenario you would expect in a science fiction story, but this shows that truth can be stranger than fiction.
Located on the summit of a dormant volcano, 4,150 meters (13,600 feet) above the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii's W. M. Keck Observatory houses the world's two largest optical and infrared telescopes.
By linking them together as an interferometer, astronomers are able to investigate regions where Earth-like planets may have formed.
The Keck Interferometer is managed by JPL as part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
To get the best effect to view this model, you need the QuickTime software, available for free download, if it is not already installed on your computer. If you are unable to install Quicktime, a very good HTML version with static images is available.
The virtual tour can take several seconds to load, but however long it takes, it is definitely worth the wait, because the views are an enthusiast's dream.
See: KECK INTERFEROMETER VIRTUAL TOUR
Source: NASA
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