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Mauna Kea summit, HI

Posted by free.ranger (A) on January 19, 2015 at 17:24:31

Forget the banana shirts and flip-flops. It is damn cold on this summit (13,803') all year. You'll need a parka. But the clearness of the night sky here is unexcelled. There are 12 observatories up here, counting the submillimeter array, and by agreement with various Hawaiian groups, no more may be built unless it replaces one already standing. This is a sacred site to many, and the presence of these scopes is sacrilege. Of the several cinder cone sub-summits, one is the highest and true summit. Locals (and scientists) won't openly identify it because they don't want it trampled. There is supposedly a shrine of sorts on that particular cone.

Starting at top:
- Sunset over the Kona (west) coast, 2 photos. Top photo shows the Kona coastline.
- Summit and slope cinder cones, and summit shadow projected out to sea over the Hilo (east) coast. Cinder cones, unlike true vents, pop one time, belching a particular kind of cinder ash, different from lava, in this case a reddish deposit. The summit and near slopes are pock-marked with these cones. Also seen are differing lava flows, noted by color shade lines.
-Road up summit, paved part way, long any way.
- Gemini Northern, Univ of Hawaii 2.2-meter scope, and the UK infrared scope. Gemini is part of a tandem system, with the Southern unit located on Kitt Peak in Arizona.
- Kecks I and II; another tandem system, but co-located. These scopes can work in unison to provide hugely greater resolution and data fields. The operation and brain center for these is downslope in Waimea (Big Island).
- Left to right, the Subaru scope, Keck I and II, and the NASA infrared unit.

All of these observatories are minimally manned by techs on rotation from below. The actual operations and data collections are done far offsite, usually way far in universities and labs in other countries. Various research proposals are sent to committees who grant time on their units. When a time window comes open, work becomes intense for that particular research group. Overtime and overdrive. Most everything is done by web and satellite.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Kimber Kable

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