Mauna Kea Observatory

Our friend Sue Clyde, who spent three or four months of 2011 living on the big island of Hawai'i, inspired our Hawaiian extravaganza.  The adventure that Sue most raved about was her trip to the Mauna Kea Observatories, so we followed in her footsteps.  We met up with follow-travelers and our guide Greg at a spot 15 minutes north of Kailua, from whence we proceded in a mini-bus.  Greg appeared to be in his 50s and had strikingly blond/white eyebrows.  He drove along, telling us various things about the regions we passed through.  Much of the way the "highway" we were on was quite narrow, winding, and bumpy, and Greg mostly drove down the centre line.  He explained that the road was initially just a singe lane, punched through in a big hurry by the US military during WWII.  Later it was widened by adding shoulders of about 3 feet on either side.  We drove beside a major US military installation that included a large live-firing range -- I mean, they were dropping actual bombs from jets.  Very weird.

Greg beside the minbus.

As we drove, we climbed, gradually but steadily.  We had a brief pause around 5,000 feet, then drove a bit further and stopped for an early dinner at something like 6,000 feet.  We dined in a former ranching outpost (part of a gigantic ranch, now owned by the state and leased to the tour company). Here are some photos I took while waiting for dinner.

After dinner we continued to ascend.  Here's a shot Greg kindly took when we paused at something like 8,000 feet.

Enlarge to read sign.  In context, at least, it was a hoot.  We were all holding on for dear life even though we were ON the road.

The first telescope we got close to.

Apparently the wind can really howl up near the summit, so the signs have holes in them to reduce the likelihood of being blown off the posts.

Near the top of Mauna Kea.

This is the peak of Mauna Kea, almost exactly 14,000 feet.  Most of the observatories are on an adjacent rise, from which this shot was taken, that is just a bit lower.  The peak itself is considered sacred ground by Hawaiins and we were asked not to climb it.  At 14,000 feet just walking around on level ground tended to make our heads spin, so there was no danger of us galavanting up there, but if you enlarge the picture you'll see that several other folks did (although I think that at least part of their group was Hawaiian).

The prospects as the sun set were awe-inspiringly beautiful.





A few minutes after the sun went down, we got back in the bus and went back down to the visitors' centre at 9k.  There Greg set up an 11" scope and greatly impressed us with an incredibly skilled tour of the heavans.  We started with a couple of planets (Venus and Jupiter), then hit some dazzling stars.  Then he worked through the then-visible zodiacal constellations, using a laser pointer to help us see them and telling their stories very fluently (although his attempts at humour, almost always grounded in sexist stereotypes, were tedious).  Then he pointed out and told the stories of a number of other constellations, and explained how the Polynesians used the stars to navigate (routinely, for trade) between the Hawaiian islands and points as far away as New Zealand.  Then for the grand finale he showed us both the Andromeda galaxy and the spiral nebula.  The whole show was absolutely stunning, and I would recommend this outting for any sighted person.  Totally cool