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  1. TRAVEL: 2007 through 2011
  2. JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 2010: HAWAII

February 3, 2010: Mauna Kea

Music in the videos is from Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).
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Located at 9,300 feet elevation, the Visitor Information building of the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy gives a nice place to stretch your legs, use the restroom, and become acclimated to the decreased oxygen level at altitude.  People say that spending an hour here on the way up greatly reduces the chances of altitude sickness on up at the top (elevation 13,600 feet).  There is also a little gift shop and, as the name implies, some interesting and informative displays are here.<br />
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Take a look at the location on a a zoom-able map by pressing "Map This" above.<br />
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And, for more information, look at     <a href="http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/">http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/</a>
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Located at 9,300 feet elevation, the Visitor Information building of the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy gives a nice place to stretch your legs, use the restroom, and become acclimated to the decreased oxygen level at altitude. People say that spending an hour here on the way up greatly reduces the chances of altitude sickness on up at the top (elevation 13,600 feet). There is also a little gift shop and, as the name implies, some interesting and informative displays are here.

Take a look at the location on a a zoom-able map by pressing "Map This" above.

And, for more information, look at http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/

onizukacenterinternationalastronomy

  • Located at 9,300 feet elevation, the Visitor Information building of the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy gives a nice place to stretch your legs, use the restroom, and become acclimated to the decreased oxygen level at altitude.  People say that spending an hour here on the way up greatly reduces the chances of altitude sickness on up at the top (elevation 13,600 feet).  There is also a little gift shop and, as the name implies, some interesting and informative displays are here.<br />
<br />
Take a look at the location on a a zoom-able map by pressing "Map This" above.<br />
<br />
And, for more information, look at     <a href="http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/">http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/</a>
  • Endemic to Big Island, the Mauna Kea Silversword plant (Argyroxiphium sandwicense subsp. sandwicense) used to be common here.  However, people brought goats and sheep, which became feral and decimated the population.  It was declared an endangered species in 1986, and in 2003 there were only 41 naturally-occurring plants in the wild.  Biologist have launched intensive efforts to save it.  Attempts at propagation have resulted in inferior individuals with characteristics not existing in nature (such as excessively-numbered and deformed flower stalks).  For more, click on the following link:    <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Kea_silversword">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Kea_silversword</a>
  • Just behind the Visitor Center is a nice walk, where one can see the Mauna Kea Silver Swords up close and personal.  Spend a couple of minutes walking around some with us, if you would like.
  • Once you leave the Visitor Center to head on up to the observatories, the way gets much steeper, with several switchbacks.  To the south (just to your left from Dad here) is Mauna Loa.  Lots of cinder cones between here and there.  If you go down into the valley and turn right, you will head toward Kona.  To your left and the road goes to Hilo.
  • There are two of these observatories which make up  the Keck complex.  They tie each other for the title of largest optical telescope in the world.
  • As you can see, there are several other observatories scattered around near the summit of Mauna Kea.  Billions of dollars worth of equipment on top of a volcano which, according to geologists, is likely to erupt at least one more time before it becomes extinct.
  • Here is the viewing gallery. The blue structure you see here is part of a 300-ton telescope which stands 8 stories tall.  At the base (you can't see it because of the wall at the bottom of the blue structure) is a mirror 10 meters across (32.8 feet).  To be more accurate, it is a complex of 36 hexagonal segments, each of which can be adjusted and positioned to nanometer precision, working as a single mirror.
  • I could go on and on, but you will likely enjoy the information at the following link much more:<br />
<br /> <a href="http://www.keckobservatory.org/">http://www.keckobservatory.org/</a>
  • Yes, that is ice.  It's COLD at 13,600 feet, even in Hawaii!
  • I don't believe that it grew here.  I think someone put it there for landscaping / decorative purposes.  At least, I saw no evidence of trees growing up here.
  • While there are several telescopes up here, you see the two Keck Observatories just to right of center.  The odd looking one just to your left from them is where we are going next:  The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), which houses the Subaru Telescope.
  • Remember:  We are in Hawaii!
  • Here is a cut-away model of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.  The blue structure is the Subaru Telescope.  Look at these areas, because the upcoming photos will show them:  1.  For the next 2 photos, we will be on the floor just beneath the Subaru Telescope.  Then we will climb stairs to an obervation deck, where we will get a view even with the structure.  Lastly, we will be in the area you see just below and to your right from the telescope level (above the level with the large yellow structure).  You see the small, yellow square (at the far right of the model, just next to a catwalk with railing)?  That is a track, which the telescope and housing all ride upon.  We will be down in that area prior to leaving the observatory.  For your information, the large yellow structure at the bottom has to do with re-surfacing the mirror.  One of the unique things about this observatory is that they can coat the mirror with various substances to enhance their ability to search for specific wavelengths.<br />
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Now, on with the tour!
  • Contained in the blue drum at the bottom of the telescope structure is an 8.2 meter (27 foot) mirror, with a thickness of 7.9 inches, weight of 25.1 tons, and mean surface error of 1/5,000,000 inch.
  • Focal length is 49 feet, 2 inches.
  • In the last 2 photos, we were on that green floor down there.  To get some size perspective on this photo, look at the blue thing on the yellow contraption to your upper left.  That is a person.  The large, primary mirror is hidden from your view in the blue drum.  It reflects light upward, toward a secondary mirror which reflects it back downward onto a sensor (just like the sensor in your camera, except probably a bit more expensive and more sensitive).  The little (relative term) round brown thing you see at the bottom of the yellow contraption is the secondary mirror, temporarily taken out of position for maintenance.  You will see it better in the next shot.
  • Notice the nice reflection off the secondary mirror!
  • Remember the photo of the cutaway model?  I told you about the track which the entire observatory rides on.  Well, here it is.
  • A one-minute and 5-second video, back at the cutaway model, showing how the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan rotates and tilts the Subaru Telescope.<br />
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For more information, please click on the following link:<br />
<br /> <a href="http://www.naoj.org/">http://www.naoj.org/</a><br />
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If you may head to Big Island sometime, it is (in my opinion) well worthwhile to schedule a time for a tour.  It's free, and you can sign up online through the above website.
  • Pretty typical at this time of day, I'll bet.  We are looking mostly south (and a little east).  Prevailing winds come from east to west (from your left to your right in this photo).  As the air blows up to higher elevation, it condenses into clouds (due to temperature decreasing with increasing altitude).  Once it is blowing over the summit, it is no longer getting cooler.  Then, as it blows down the other side, it becomes drier as it warms.  Hilo (to your left) gets LOTS of rain (about 100 inches per year).  Between Hilo and here, at elevations of about 2,000 to 3,000 feet, yearly precipitation is closer to 300 inches per year.  At the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa (the lowlands in this photo:  Mauna Loa's peak is just off screen to your right) it's closer to 20 inches per year.  At Kailua-Kona (to your right and on down to the coast) it's about 10 inches per year.  So, clouds to your left, clear to your right as you face south from the Mauna Kea summit is, I'll bet, the norm.<br />
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If you would like to see photos from 2009, when Bev and I watched a spectacular sunset from Mauna Kea, please click on the following link:<br />
<br /> <a href="http://optimimagery.com/Travel/Hawaii-February-and-March-2009/Big-Island-2-SACRED-HEIGHTS/7949748_Anhwf#516059729_dff58">http://optimimagery.com/Travel/Hawaii-February-and-March-2009/Big-Island-2-SACRED-HEIGHTS/7949748_Anhwf#516059729_dff58</a>
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