The Telescopes of Hawaii, Windows on the Universe

The Big Island of Hawaii, home of fire, ice, and beautiful tropical beaches, is also the world’s finest site to study the stars. Rising over 13,000 feet above the clear azure water are two massive shield volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loao. These peaks are so high that in winter they are often covered in snow and locals drive up to surf the powder. That height also makes it a great site to build telescopes, and the world largest are on top of Mauna Kea.

Astronomers build telescopes on top of high mountains to put them above the moisture and turbulent air that can blur their images of distant stars and galaxies. But Mauna Kea is special even for mountain-top observatories. The air above the mountain is extremely stable. This lack of turbulence makes it the best site in the world. The only place with better conditions is outer space.

Astronomers began building telescopes on Mauna Kea in the 1960’s. In the early 90’s astronomers from University of California finished building the world’s largest, the twin Keck Observatories. Each of these telescopes has a primary mirror that is over 30 feet across, roughly half a basketball court.

In addition to the twin Keck telescopes, Mauna Kea hosts the national observatories of the United States (the Gemini telescope) and Japan (the Subaru telescope). Over the past fifteen years, these large telescopes have revolutionized our understanding of the universe. Using these telescopes, astronomers have discovered planets around other stars, new planets in our solar system (these are roughly the size of Pluto), and have identified a super massive black hole in the center of our galaxy.

On a clear morning you can see the telescopes shining in the sun on top of Mauna Kea. But it is a night when they really come alive. The domes open and starlight that has travelled billions of years across the universe finally makes its way into the telescope and is recorded by the cameras and studied by the astronomers.

If you are visiting the Big Island of Hawaii, you can visit the telescopes. There are several tour groups that will drive you from your tropical beach-front hotel to the high tops of the mountains. Hawaii Forest and Trail provides a great tour that includes dinner at the historic Parker Ranch, a drive up the mountain for sunset views of Maui and the Pacific Ocean, and a walk about the domes of the telescopes.

After darkness descends on the mountain, the tour continues. A short drive back down to 9000 feet brings you to the visitors center where there is always hot chocolate and a chance for you to look through smaller but great little telescopes. You might get to see the craters of the moon, the rings of Saturn or the big red spot of Jupiter. Some nights you might see galaxies who’s light has travelled millions of years to reach the earth. Whatever you end up seeing the evening will be magical.

Mauna Kea is a holy site for Hawaiian culture. In Hawaiian mythology it is the home of Poliahu, the snow goddess, whose blanket of snow keeps the ancient volcano dormant. Today Mauna Kea continues to inspire the people of Hawaii and her many visitors, opening a window on the heavens just as it did for hundreds of years of Hawaiian civilization.