Mauna Kea!
Here are some pictures from my trip to see the observatories on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. I was in telescope heaven! As part of the tour I got to visit the Subaru and UKIRT observatories. I got a special treat at Subaru because the mirror was being cleaned when I visited, so I got to see and learn how that is done. Unfortunately, it is quite enduring physically to visit the summit of Mauna Kea at 13796 ft. I drank four bottles of water in three hours, and yet my thirst was never quenched. However, that did not stop me from taking as many pictures as I could. I just wish I could have visited more of the observatories. Click on the images/links above to see more pictures of each region of Hawaii that I visited. I have much higher resolution images of each place if you want them.
 |
 |
 |
| 'Imiloa Astronomy Center Mosaic | Looking down on the clouds | Still amazed that I was looking down on the clouds |
 |
 |
 |
| Keck Observatory | Subaru Telescope | Sideview of Subaru Primary mirror |
 |
 |
 |
| Cleaning the Subaru mirror | Subaru and me in a stylish hard hat | Subaru secondary mirror |
 |
 |
 |
| Keck | Keck & Gemini North | UKIRT |
 |
 |
 |
| UKIRT instruments | UKIRT | Amazing view |
 |
 |
 |
| Gemini North | ||
 |
 |
 |
| VLBA | ||
 |