Mauna Kea summit visit

[owlice]

Part 1
I attended ADASS this past week, which ended early Thursday afternoon. The host organization, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, offered an optional Mauna Kea summit visit yesterday. This was very interesting! After signing seven waivers of liability which included information such as "Do not move fast at the summit. It may cause hyperventilation." and "Do not hesitate to report to your Guide when you feel sick." (note it says "when", not "if") in addition to mentioning a list of symptoms to watch for at that altitude (nearly 14,000 feet) which includes "foaming." Several of the waivers include phrases such as ".. can result in a variety of medical conditions and in some cases severe illness and even death can result."

But what's a possibility of severe illness and death when such an opportunity is presented? The tour was sold out and had a waiting list. We took a bus from the conference hotel to just above the public Visitor Information Station (~ 9,000 ft above sea level) to facilities for visiting groups/astronomers. These facilities include a common-area building with kitchen, dining room, rest rooms, pool tables, and comfy sofas and chairs with a range of magazines and books available. There is a walkway from this building to nearby rooms for astronomers doing on-site observations, and a balcony with tables and chairs that afford lovely views down the mountain.

As we were required to stay here for at least 45 minutes anyway to acclimate to the altitude, our provided lunch occurred here, laid out in a buffet. Sandwich and salad makings, an excellent corn chowder, fresh fruit salad, and ice cream were all available. We had been told to eat a light meal, this to lessen the possibility of altitude sickness. (I skipped the mint chocolate chip ice cream.) After lunch, the group was split up and packed off into the four-wheel-drive vehicles necessary for the drive to the summit; the road surface is gravel for part of the trip, and the incline quite steep. The vehicle I was packed into with five of my fellow conference attendees was driven by a man who has 18 years of experience working on Suburu; he is one of the original technicians for the instrument, helped build it, and stayed on. The whole road was his, left, right, and center. Though the surface turns to gravel shortly after we got onto the road up, it later becomes paved again; after the bumpiness of the gravel, it was nice to get onto a hard surface again.

It was really exciting when telescopes started to come into view! These are not visible at all from below. Each group visited two telescopes which we could not select; my group visited Subaru and NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF).

[Beyond]

ooh, postcards from above, w-a-y above! When do we get the second batch?
After getting past the 7 deadly waivers, seems you had a v-e-r-y good time.

[geckzilla]

I'm happy the Hawaiian people let the astronomical community use their beautiful mountain volcano.

[owlice]

geckzille, use of Mauna Kea by astronomy has been controversial, and astronomy works with the Hawaiian community to address its concerns about building in the summit area. There's a PBS show on this called First Light.

Beyond, I had a splendid time! I just returned from stargazing at Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station. It was a lovely dark sky; I'll confess I was glad for the seat warmer in the rental car on the drive home. More when I have time and am more awake than I am now; it's midnight here, so time for bed.

[neufer]

[b][color=#0000FF]An adult [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea]Kea[/url][/color][/b] [b][color=#0000FF]at Arthur's Pass, New Zealand[/color][/b]

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<<The summits of the five volcanoes of Hawaii are revered as sacred mountains; and Mauna Kea's summit, being the highest, is one of the most sacred. For this reason, a kapu (ancient Hawaiian law) restricted visitor rights to high-ranking tribal chiefs. Hawaiians associated elements of their natural environment with particular deities. In Hawaiian mythology, the sky father Wākea marries the earth mother Papa, giving birth to the Hawaiian Islands. In many of these genealogical myths, Mauna Kea is portrayed as the pair's first-born son. The summit of Mauna Kea was seen as the "region of the gods", a place where benevolent spirits reside. Poliʻahu, deity of snow, also resides there. In Hawaiian, Mauna Kea means "white mountain", a reference to its summit, which is usually snow-capped in winter. The mountain is also known as Mauna o Wākea ("Mountain of [the deity] Wākea").>>

<<The Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO) are an independent collection of astronomical research facilities located in a 500-acre special land use zone known as the "Astronomy Precinct" established in 1967 and protected by the Historical Preservation Act for its significance to Hawaiian culture. The altitude and isolation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean makes Mauna Kea one of the best locations on earth for ground-based astronomy. It is an ideal location for submillimeter, infrared and optical observations. The seeing statistics show that Mauna Kea is the best site in terms of optical and infrared image quality—for example the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope site has a median seeing of 0.43 arcseconds.

[Beyond]

geckzille,

You must have been r-e-a-l-l-y tired

It's funny the influence words have. When i saw geckzille, i could see a gazelle gracefully bounding merrily along and all of a sudden, leaping up and sticking to the side of a tree.

[geckzilla]

geckzille, use of Mauna Kea by astronomy has been controversial, and astronomy works with the Hawaiian community to address its concerns about building in the summit area. There's a PBS show on this called First Light.

Yes, I knew the volcanoes were sacred but I figured that the leaders must have been ok with it (or at least the leader in charge at the time the site was proposed). Admittedly I don't know much beyond that. Well, the observatories are still there, so I guess the volcano deities are ok with it.

[neufer]

I knew the volcanoes were sacred but I figured that the leaders must have been ok with it (or at least the leader in charge at the time the site was proposed). Admittedly I don't know much beyond that. Well, the observatories are still there, so I guess the volcano deities are ok with it.

The kapu (ancient Hawaiian law) restricting visitor rights to high-ranking tribal chiefs doesn't affect physical objects per se; it simply puts a life long curse on any visitors who are not high-ranking tribal chiefs(; e.g., Bill Nye and his recent appearance on Dancing with the Stars).

[geckzilla]

I've heard of people who supposedly encounter incredibly bad luck otherwise known as a curse after taking a volcanic rock from the island. I kind of want one. Then, anytime I mess up or encounter misfortune, I can blame the rock.

[owlice]

geckzille,

You must have been r-e-a-l-l-y tired

It's funny the influence words have. When i saw geckzille, i could see a gazelle gracefully bounding merrily along and all of a sudden, leaping up and sticking to the side of a tree.

Oh, Beyond, yes, I was very tired! I had trouble driving back, in fact, and had there been a place to pull over, I would have, for a cat nap. I dozed off at the computer for a bit before going to bed (and then once in bed, had a hard time falling asleep!).

It's past 6 AM now, so I must go get my coffee; it is very pleasant to have a beach on which to drink it. Later today, some work while I do laundry ($8/load).

[neufer]

I've heard of people who supposedly encounter incredibly bad luck otherwise known as a curse after taking a volcanic rock from the island. I kind of want one. Then, anytime I mess up or encounter misfortune, I can blame the rock.

[b][color=#0000FF][size=150]Pelé in 2007[/size][/color][/b]

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<<Pele's Curse is the belief that anything natively Hawaiian, such as sand, rock, or pumice, will effect bad luck on whoever takes it away from Hawaii. One version about the legend's genesis is this: a disgruntled park ranger, angry at the number of rocks that were being taken from the islands by visitors, said that Pele would curse them with bad luck should they take anything. Another version often told is that bus drivers, tired of the dirt and grime brought on their buses by the tourists' collection of rocks, started the story at the beginning of each tour to discourage the rock collecting.

The myth has caught on, told as if it were an original Hawaiian taboo, and every year countless tourists send these back in order to escape the awful luck that Pele has caused them. So, although the legend itself is probably of twentieth-century origin, the removal of rocks as souvenirs is now frowned-upon by Hawaiians. Also, it is illegal to remove minerals from within a U.S. national park. A similar curse is said to exist for rocks at Ayers Rock in Australia.>>

[owlice]

Astronomy was invited to the island by someone whose name I don't remember; he championed this use of the summit, this after a devastating tsunami had hit. The presence of astronomy contributes to the economic well-being of the island. I certainly wouldn't be here were it not for the conference, and the conference -- and a related meeting which preceded it -- wouldn't have been here were it not for the telescopes.

[Beyond]

Are you going back up the mountain again, or is that it? Say, when you were on the summit, did you get to see 8 sisters with your eyes?

[owlice]

Part 2

As is clear from these images of more telescopes, the summit is dry; it is well above the treeline and little grows here. At the Visitor Information Station, there is a sanctuary for silverswords, an endangered plant that is not only silver, but also sparkles in sunlight -- they are shiny and just don't look real. They need to be protected from feral sheep and goats, which apparently gobble these up like some people gobble M&Ms. The summit is not part of their range; it is too high for them.

A side note about animals… at some point in an earlier visit to the Visitor Information Station (VIS), I found a posting of hunting laws. There is no limit on sheep and goats; hunters are limited to one pig per day, however. The Mauna Kea Access Road goes through grazing land for cows; a sign at the VIS warns about invisible cows. Apparently, cows wander into the road and at night or under foggy conditions (and fog occurs very often), it is almost impossible to see a cow on the road until one has hit it. The VIS sells "Watch for invisible cows" bumper stickers.

We visited Subaru first. This is an impressive, distinctive building; as you can see here, it is not domed. We were issued yellow hardhats -- those with more business being in the facility than random wandering conference attendees wear white hardhats -- and entered the space the telescope was in; we were under it, looking up. As we were not allowed to use flash in the building, I shot video instead and will post an image of the scope later. The technology was impressive, but what I heard the most from the group I was with was amazement at how tidy the facility is. One part of the building is stationary; the part that houses the scope rotates so Subaru can be positioned for its work. This second image is a view between that which is stationary and that which is not.

[owlice]

Are you going back up the mountain again, or is that it? Say, when you were on the summit, did you get to see 8 sisters with your eyes?

I saw the Pleiades last night with my own eyes, which cannot resolve individual stars very well, from the VIS. (Single points are asters/have halos to me, and the moon is not round.) As Venus sank in the west, it developed a corona from the fine misty clouds that were hovering just above the mountain in the western sky. I have been up three times; I may go one more time. The nightly stargazing event at the VIS has become more popular with the closing of Volcanoes National Park, though, so it's a little more crowded than I'd like (though yay! for more people looking at stars!!).

One of last night's very knowledgeable volunteers comes to Hawaii once a year for four weeks and offers star tours as part of the stargazing events. He's also very familiar with the donor-funded telescopes available each night for telescopic gazing and was providing excellent support for the scopes. I had walked behind the center so I could see the eastern horizon several times, as that horizon is not visible from most of the stargazing patio, and had seen the Pleiades rise. I wandered back to the patio; I was mostly craning my neck to look at all the stars I cannot see from home and the glorious arch of the Milky Way overhead from south to north, and looking for meteors, too, but every so often, a scope would be repositioned to show something new, so I'd mosey to it for a look.

I noticed one of the other volunteers repositioning a scope, and asked from my vantage point, which had a view of the Pleiades, whether he was aiming for that star cluster. Mr. Visitor Volunteer off a bit to my right declared that eventually, a scope would be turned to the Pleiades so people could see them. I said, "Or they could just look there and see them now," indicating the eastern sky. "They aren't visible yet," said Mr. Visitor Volunteer, "they haven't risen." "I'm looking at them right now!," said I, and about 5 seconds later, the other volunteer, who I think had not paid attention to the exchange (as he was busy with the scope), announced that he now had the Pleiades in view, and anyone who wanted to look could... so I did.

Honestly, I think Mr. Visitor Volunteer didn't believe me, and he certainly didn't bother to walk over to a different vantage point to see whether a (mere) visitor was correct, nor did he acknowledge that oh, gee, there they were.

[Beyond]

You seem to be at an Ultimate Star Party. Enjoy it while you can. Say, ya think anyone has ever suggested that they put florescent bands around the middle of the cows, so they maybe wouldn't be so invisible at night or in fog?

[neufer]

[owlice]

Part 3

We also toured NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). The Observatory Manager led our tour of this facility; we walked onto the floor initially so were looking up at the 3-meter scope, and also at the catwalk we'd be on shortly.

50% of the observing time for this telescope is reserved for studies of solar system objects; occasionally NASA will need to have something in particular imaged, but the rest of the time, anyone in the astronomical community can apply to use the telescope.

While on the catwalk, the telescope was rotated so we could see the primary mirror. Scientists do not need to be onsite to make their observations; most observing is done remotely, with onsite staff setting the needed instruments and positioning the scope from a warm room. It's cold on the summit, and even if it isn't during the day, it is in many of the observatories, which are cooled during the day. I had on two tee-shirts, a turtleneck, my winter coat (!), and jeans. I had gloves with me, too, which I wore off and on throughout the visit. I had wool socks on, too, and was glad for them, until I got back to sea level.

The control room had a lot of personality, showing in the pictures people had taken and posted on the walls, plots on the bulletin board, PowerPoint slides, and posters. Also 8" single-sided floppy disks (remember those?!), fortunately no longer in use. But at one time, that is how the data from the scope were stored.

The parking lot of the IRTF is a good vantage pint from which to take pictures, including of other telescopes on the summit; here's a shot of Subaru and Keck observatories. I didn't get to visit Keck, but did go to the Keck Visitor Center in Waimea another day; it has Keck's first instrument, the Near Infrared Camera (NIRC), on display.

[Beyond]

Owlice, after recuperating from having your head above the clouds, do you get any time to see Hawaii at ground level?
IF you do, get some pictures of pineapple plants. From what I've read, they're becoming a rarity. It would seem that almost all the pineapple plantations have been taken over by experimental corn fields. The corn companies have discovered that they can get 3-harvests of corn there a year, instead of 1-harvest in most other places.

[geckzilla]

You need to stop reading the tabloids, Beyond.

[owlice]

Beyond, I am home now (~~~ sigh ~~~). I saw Hawaii at ground level and even below sea level; the snorkeling was excellent! I spent hours in the ocean; never got into any of the pools, however.

I did not get any pictures of pineapple plants (though did eat pineapple, better there than anywhere else in the world, surely), but I did get photos of macadamia trees and coffee plants. And of crabs and sand and sunrise and sunset and boats and trillium and hibiscus and silverswords and doves and mynahs and cardinals and finches and a volcano and lava (oh, so so much lava) and palm trees and ocean ocean ocean (oh, so so SO much ocean!) and rocks and lizards and cats and horses and rainbows and more sand and more ocean. I did not get any pictures of the mongooses I saw, nor of fish though I saw perhaps a bazillion different kinds, yellow tangs and black dragon triggerfish and Moorish idols and parrot fish and... well, you get the idea.

Oh! I did get a few pictures of an eel, though! I wasn't in the water at the time, but he was. I was looking into tidal pools, and there he was. And here he is:

I also saw eels while I was in the ocean. And a sea turtle, too.

[Beyond]

How long do you think it will take to recuperate from your 'paradise' excursion
Were you in the conference photo?

[owlice]

I will never recover! I want to go back!!

Yes, I'm in the conference photo, but barely!

[Beyond]

Ah, a clue.