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West Maui:
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East Maui:
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Haleakala National Park
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Island of Molokai:
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Science City - Haleakala
Mauna Kea Observatory
Hawaii is Earth's connecting point to the rest of the Universe. The summit of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii hosts the world's largest astronomical observatory, with telescopes operated by astronomers from eleven countries. The combined light-gathering power of the telescopes on Mauna Kea is fifteen times greater than that of the Palomar telescope in California, for many years the world's largest and fifty times greater than that of the Hubble Space Telescope.
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The Geography of Mauna Kea
Mauna Kea ("White Mountain") is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii, the largest and southernmost of the Hawaiian Islands. It is located about 300 km (190 miles) from the capital city, Honolulu, on the island of Oahu. The highest point in the Pacific Basin, and the highest island-mountain in the world, Mauna Kea rises 9,750 meters (32,000 ft) from the ocean floor to an altitude of 4,205 meters (13,796 ft) above sea level, which places its summit above 40 percent of the Earth's atmosphere. The broad volcanic landscape of the summit area is made up of cinder cones on a lava plateau.
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Why Mauna Kea is a Unique Site for Astronomy
Mauna Kea is unique as an astronomical observing site. The atmosphere above the mountain is extremely dry which is important in measuring infrared and submillimeter radiation from celestial sources and cloud-free, so that the proportion of clear nights is among the highest in the world. The exceptional stability of the atmosphere above Mauna Kea permits more detailed studies than are possible elsewhere, while its distance from city lights and a strong island-wide lighting ordinance ensure an extremely dark sky, allowing observation of the faintest galaxies that lie at the very edge of the observable Universe. A tropical inversion cloud layer about 600 meters (2,000 ft) thick, well below the summit, isolates the upper atmosphere from the lower moist maritime air and ensures that the summit skies are pure, dry, and free from atmospheric pollutants.
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The Mauna Kea Science Reserve
The University of Hawaii has a lease from the State of Hawaii for all land within a 2.5-mile radius of the site of the UH 2.2-m Telescope - approximately the land above 3,700 meters (12,000 ft) elevation - except for the portions of this circular area which lie within the Mauna Kea Ice Age Natural Area Reserve. The leased land is known as the Mauna Kea Science Reserve and comprises 4542 hectares (11,228 acres). In addition to developing its own research programs, the IfA has provided the scientific impetus for the development of Mauna Kea into the world's premier site for ground-based astronomical observatories. More major telescopes are located on Mauna Kea than on any other single mountain peak, and Mauna Kea is widely recognized as offering better conditions for optical, infrared and millimeter/submillimeter measurements than any other developed site. A master plan or the future development of the Science Reserve has recently been prepared by the planning firm Group 70 International.
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Mauna Kea Weather
The weather at the Mauna Kea summit can be severe, especially during the winter months, when heavy storms commonly deposit several feet of snow. Minimum nighttime winter temperatures at the summit are around -4 degrees Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit); maximum daytime temperatures are about +4 degrees Celsius (40 degrees Fahrenheit), but wind chill and the high altitude can make it seem much colder. Between April and November the weather is milder, with daytime temperatures varying from freezing to almost 15 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit).
The barometric pressure on Mauna Kea is usually in the range 600-610 millibars (approximately 18 inches of mercury) - just under 60% of the sea-level atmospheric pressure: Mauna Kea is above 40% of the atmosphere. Water boils at a temperature of approximately 86 degrees Celsius (187 degrees Fahrenheit) at the top of Mauna Kea.
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