Mauna Kea Observatory

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The domes of the Subaru telescope, the two Keck telescopes and the IRTF on Mauna Kea

The summit of the 4,200 meter high Mauna Kea volcano on Hawai'i , the largest island in the archipelago , is home to one of the most important astronomical observatories of the present. Although the telescopes on Mauna Kea are operated by various universities and institutions from a total of 11 nations , they are collectively referred to as the Mauna Kea Observatory .

The location is ideally suited for the operation of an observatory, since at this altitude the air is already very thin and extremely dry (a prerequisite for infrared astronomy ), the summit is usually above the cloud cover (the number of clear nights is therefore very high) and the air is largely free of turbulence that would impair the quality of astronomical recordings.

Telescopes

Between 1968 and 1999 a total of nine mirror telescopes for the optical and infrared spectral range were put into operation, including the Gemini North and Subaru telescopes with a main mirror each 8 meters in diameter, as well as the two telescopes of the WM Keck Observatory , which each have one (from numerous smaller, hexagonal segments composed) main mirrors 10 meters in diameter. The two telescopes of the Keck Observatory were the largest optical telescopes in the world until July 2007 and can also be operated together as an optical interferometer . They were replaced as the largest optical telescopes in the world by the Gran Telescopio Canarias , whose mirror, which is also segmented, has a diameter of 10.4 m.

In addition to the optical telescopes, the Mauna Kea also features three instruments for the sub-millimeter range ( microwaves ). The submillimeter array , consisting of eight antennas with a diameter of six meters each, was only completed in 2002. Finally, the Mauna Kea Observatory also houses a radio telescope with a diameter of 25 meters, which, together with other radio telescopes, is used worldwide as a radio astronomical interferometer (see VLBI ).

Telescopes on Mauna Kea
telescope diameter Art operator since
UH 0.6m 0.6 m Optically University of Hawaii 1968
UH 2.2m 2.2 m Optical / infrared University of Hawaii 1970
United Kingdom Infrared Telescope UKIRT 3.8 m Infrared Great Britain 1979
Infrared Telescope Facility IRTF 3.0 m Infrared NASA 1979
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope CFHT 3.6 m Optical / infrared Canada, France, Univ. Hawaii 1979
Caltech Submillimeter Observatory CSO 10.4 m Submillimeter Caltech , NSF 1987
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope JCMT 15 m Submillimeter, millimeter UK, Canada, Netherlands 1987
An antenna from the Very Long Baseline Array 25 m radio NRAO, AUI, NSF 1992
Cheeky I. 10 m Optical / infrared Caltech , University of California 1992
Keck II 10 m Optical / infrared Caltech , University of California 1996
Subaru telescope 8.2 m Optical / infrared NOAJ (Japan) 1999
Gemini North 8.1 m Optical / infrared Gemini observatory 1999
Submillimeter Array SMA 8 × 6 m Sub-millimeter interferometer Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Taiwan 2002

Projects

At present (2008) the planning and preparations of a project for one of the largest optical telescopes in the world are in progress. The Thirty Meter Telescope with a mirror diameter of 30 m (Keck 10 m) is to be one of the most sensitive and highest resolution terrestrial observatories for an estimated price of 750 million dollars, comparable to the planned European Extremely Large Telescope . Mauna Kea is one of the locations studied.

Another high-tech observatory is also being built: four 1.8-meter telescopes are being built for $ 60 million in the Pan-STARRS project ; they are supposed to track down all dangerous asteroids. The project is funded by the Air Force from the defense budget. The systematic observation of the corresponding regions of the sky also results in a one-time, total survey of all the stars.

The new projects are also controversial, as Mauna Kea is considered a sacred mountain for some Hawaiians and even the older telescopes are viewed as desecration.

literature

  • Olaf Stampf : Observatory of the future . In: Der Spiegel . tape 30 , no. 07/24/2006 , 2006, ISSN  0038-7452 , p. 116 ff .
  • Michael J. West: A Sky Wonderful with Stars: 50 Years of Modern Astronomy on Maunakea. University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu 2015, ISBN 978-0-8248-5268-9 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Mauna Kea Observatory and Its Telescopes  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 19 ° 45 ′ 32.4 "  N , 155 ° 27 ′ 22.8"  W.