Astronomy | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 30, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Looking Into The Past

It looks like Kalākaua’s vision is becoming a reality …

Kalākaua’s interest in modern astronomy is evidenced by his support for an astronomical expedition to Hawaiʻi in 1874 that came from England to observe a transit of Venus (a passage of Venus in front of the Sun – used to measure an ‘astronomical unit,’ the distance between the Earth and Sun.)

The King allowed the British Royal Society’s expedition a suitable piece of open land for their viewing area; it was not far from Honolulu’s waterfront in a district called Apua (mauka of today’s Waterfront Plaza.)

“… however humbly, the enlightened nations of the earth in these costly enterprises to establish the basis of astronomical distance.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 19, 1874)

Kalākaua reinforced his positive feelings toward modern astronomy – and noted the importance of scientific learning versus the financial aspect of it. On November 22, 1880, King Kalākaua wrote to Captain RS Floyd noting his interest in telescopes and astronomy:

“I must thank you sincerely for the pamphlet you sent me of the ‘Lick Observatory Trust.’ Something of this kind is needed here very much but we have so few people who take interest in scientific matters. Everybody is bent upon making money on sugar and the all might dollar.” (King Kalākaua)

In Kalākaua’s time they were measuring an astronomical unit, using now-considered rudimentary equipment; today’s cutting-edge telescopes are making discoveries about new planets, interacting galaxies and seeing stars at the edge of the observable Universe.

Astronomy looks into the distant past.

“Proxima Centauri, which is the closest star to us (other than the Sun), is about 4 light-years away. This means that the light we see from it now left the star about 4 years ago.”

“(T)he light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to reach us here on Earth, so when you look up at the Sun, you see it as it was 8 minutes ago (but don’t look at the Sun) … The speed of light is about a foot per nanosecond (billionth of a second)”. (Masters)

It wasn’t until nearly a century after Hawaiʻi’s participation in the first Transit of Venus that a high elevation observatory was constructed in Hawaiʻi – in 1964, a NASA-funded 12.5-inch telescope was installed on Puʻu Poliahu to see if Mauna Kea provide the right observation conditions.

Dr. Gerard Kuiper’s team began “seeing” studies. Kuiper concluded that “The mountaintop is probably the best site in the world – I repeat – in the world – from which to study the moon, the planets, and stars.” (Ironwood Observatory Research)

At the close of the decade Mauna Kea saw the construction of a 0.6-meter (24-inch) (1968) and 2.2-meter (88-inch) (1970) telescopes, provided to University of Hawaiʻi by the US Air Force and NASA.

Now, Hawai‘i has another opportunity … the Thirty Meter Telescope.

The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has upheld the Board of Land and Natural Resources decision to issue the Conservation District Use Permit for the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).

TMT will be three times as wide, with nine times more area, than the largest existing visible-light telescope in the world. This larger telescope will deliver sharper and deeper images than existing telescopes both on the ground and in space.

These gains can only be realized if we correct the blurring effects of the Earth’s atmosphere with special adaptive optics. Maunakea is one of the best sites in the world for using adaptive optics to sharpen images, as the atmosphere over Hawaii is calm, steady, and most often free of clouds and weather.

As a result, TMT will likely revolutionize our understanding of the universe and will help to ensure that Hawaii remains the global leader in astronomy. (TMT)

TMT will be able to study the earliest galaxies that formed, when the universe was only a small percentage of its present age; galaxies containing stars comprised of raw materials from the Big Bang.

TMT will also extend the studies of the shapes, dynamics, and chemistry of early galaxies – from 5 to 6 billion years ago and further back in time to almost 13 billion years ago, when the very first structures in the universe were forming.

TMT will also study individual stars in our local group of galaxies at a volume nearly 100 times larger than currently possible.

By resolving and studying these individual stars, we can determine how our Milky Way Galaxy and its nearest neighbors have grown, interacted, and possibly even merged (i.e. captured dwarf galaxies) over the history of the universe. (TMT)

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April 28, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mauna Kea Observatories

Mauna Kea started to form over a million years ago, in stages typical of all Hawaiian volcanoes. Magma rising through fissures in the ocean crust hot spot slowly built a volcanic cone of pillow lava and glassy fragments, rock formations created by underwater eruptions. About 800,000-years ago Mauna Kea rose above sea level, and intensive mountain building began.

Mauna Kea’s shield-building phase ended about 130,000-years ago. Cinder cones at the summit mark the location of subsequent eruptions, which buried a larger central caldera. Eruptions flared even when Ice Age glaciers gripped the summit. (National Geographic)

Since 150,000 to 200,000-years ago, there have been three glacial episodes. Glacial debris on the volcano formed about 70,000-years ago and from approximately 40,000 to 13,000-years ago. Mauna Kea is presently a dormant volcano, having last erupted about 4,500-years ago. (USGS)

No point on the planet reaches higher into the atmosphere than Mount Everest: 29,035-feet (unlike the hot spot that formed Mauna Kea, Mount Everest formed as the result of a convergent tectonic boundary.)

But as a geologic formation, Everest is substantially smaller than Mauna Kea. Everest begins its rise in the Himalaya at an average elevation of 19,160-feet above sea level. Its height from base to summit averages 10,000-feet. The base of Mauna Kea starts about 45-miles out from shore at a depth of some 18,900-feet, giving it a total rise of 32,696-feet. (National Geographic)

“The ancient Hawaiians were astronomers, and (they used terms that) appertained to the heavens, the stars, terrestrial science, and the gods. Curious students will notice in this chant (Kumulipo) analogies between its accounts of the creation and that given by modern science or Sacred Scripture.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“In ancient times, the class of people studying the positions of the moon, the rising and setting of certain fixed stars and constellations, and also of the sun, are called the kilo-hōkū or astrologers. Their observations of these heavenly bodies might well be called the study of astronomy.”

“The use of astrology anciently, was to predict certain events of fortunes and misfortunes, victory or defeat of a battle, death of king or queen, or any high chief; it also foretells of pestilence, famine, fine or stormy weather and so forth.” (Nupepa Hawaiʻi, April 2, 1909)

In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) undertook fencing, road building and visitor facilities on Mauna Kea. The CCC built a stone cabin at Hale Pōhaku, which gained its name (house of stone) from that structure. The cabin at Hale Pōhaku provided a shelter for overnight hikers, hunters and snow players.

In 1943, construction of a road from Hilo to what would become the Pōhakuloa Training Area began. After the end of World War II, the Saddle Road, as it was called, was extended to Waimea, greatly improving access to the south side of Mauna Kea.

In 1961, an Executive Order by Governor Quinn set aside land on the summit of Haleakala in a place known as Kolekole, to be under the control and management of the University of Hawaiʻi which established the ‘Haleakala High Altitude Observatory Site,’ sometimes referred to as Science City. (IfA)

Observatories are an ‘identified land use’ in the Conservation District pursuant to HAR §13-5-24, Identified Land Uses permitted in the Resource Subzone include, R-3 Astronomy Facilities, (D-1) Astronomy facilities under an approved management plan.

In 1964, the first road to the summit, a “jeep road” was completed, and in July of that year, the Lunar and Planetary Station, located on the summit of Pu‘u Poli‘ahu was opened (Group 70.) The jeep road was improved in 1970, allowing much easier access to the summit.

The Institute for Astronomy (IfA) was founded at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) in 1967 to manage the Haleakala Observatory on Maui and to guide the development of the Mauna Kea Observatories on Hawaiʻi Island, as well as to carry out its own program of fundamental research.

In 1968 Governor John A. Burns established the Mauna Kea Science Reserve, and through a lease with the Department of Land & Natural Resources, the University of Hawaiʻi was granted the authority to operate the Science Reserve as a scientific complex.

The University of Hawaiʻi’s Board of Regents adopted its first master plan for the Science Reserve (Mauna Kea Science Reserve Complex Development Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement) in 1983.

The University’s 2000 Master Plan for the UH Management Area designated 525 acres of the UH leased land as an Astronomy Precinct within the 11,288-acre Mauna Kea Science Reserve.

Office of Mauna Kea Management (OMKM) was established in 2000 as part of a master plan to provide responsible stewardship of Mauna Kea, including protecting cultural, natural and scientific resources, monitoring public access, and decommissioning astronomical facilities.

Kahu Kū Mauna (Guardians of the Mountain) is a volunteer community-based council whose members are from the native Hawaiian community. They give advice on Hawaiian cultural matters affecting the UH Management Areas. They review proposed projects and give their input to the Mauna Kea Management Board.

The 1983 plan included seven areas in the Science Reserve that were designated as Analysis Areas. The 2000 update of the Master Plan enabled the refinement of the Telescope Siting Areas within the Astronomy Precinct, to include all existing observatories, proposed redeveloped facilities and new facility sites.

The areas were anticipated to provide suitable observation conditions with minimum impact on existing facilities, wekiu bug habitat, archaeological sites and minimal visual were selected.

The astronomy precinct, where 13-existing telescopes are located, delineates the area of development of astronomy facilities, roads, and support infrastructure. (The remaining 10,763 acres are designated a Natural/Cultural Preservation Area in order to protect natural and cultural resources within the UH Management Areas.)

The 13-telescopes with the Mauna Kea Astronomy Precinct include:
• UH-Hilo 0.6-meter (24-inch) (1968)
• UH IfA 2.2-meter (88-inch) (1970)
• NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, 3.0-m, (1979)
• Canada-France-Hawai‘i Telescope, 3.6-m, (1979)
• United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, 3.8-m, (1979)
• Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, 10.4-m (1987)
• James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, 15-m, (1987)
• Very Long Baseline Array, 25-m (1992)
• Keck I 10-m, (1992)
• Keck II 10-m, (1996)
• Subaru Telescope, 8.3-m, (1999)
• Gemini Northern Telescope, 8.1-m, (1999)
• Submillimeter Array, 8x6m (2002)

(The Hubble Space Telescope’s mirror is similar in size to that of the UH 2.2 meter telescope — the second smallest telescope on the mountain. However, Hubble’s position, orbiting the Earth, gives it a view of the universe that typically far surpasses that of ground-based telescopes.)

With today’s technology and the fiber optic communications system, many of the studies occurring at these observatories can be operated remotely either from Hale Pōhaku, off-mountain Hawaiʻi locations (Waimea, Hilo), or via the Internet.

The mid-elevation facilities at Hale Pōhaku have typically been associated with support of astronomers, dating back to times when all facilities were operated by on-mountain astronomers and technicians.

Today, the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy located at Hale Pōhaku has living facilities for up to 72 people working at the summit. Also located at the center are the Visitor Information Station and other support buildings. The station is managed by the Institute for Astronomy’s Mauna Kea Support Services.

In 2006, ʻImiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaiʻi was completed. The 42,000-square-foot exhibition and planetarium complex is located in the University of Hawaiʻi’s Science and Technology Park. It was designed specifically to promote the integration of modern astronomical science and the Hawaiian culture.

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UH 2.2 meter Telescope 1968-1970

NASA Infrared Telescope Facility Built in 1979

Canada France Hawaii Telescope Photo IFA 1979

United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (Photo UKIT) 1979

Caltech Submillimeter Observatory 1987

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope 1987

The Very Long Baseline Array 1992

Twin Keck (Illustration by Tom Connell) 1992-1996

The Subaru Telescope (Photo Subaru) 1999

The Gemini Northern Observatory 1999

The SubMillimeter Array 2002

Road to the Summit with support buildings IFA

Hale Pohaku Photo IFA

Map of the Summit. ( IFA )

September 5, 2015 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Hale Kilo Hoku

“In ancient times, the class of people studying the positions of the moon, the rising and setting of certain fixed stars and constellations, and also of the sun, are called the kilo-hoku or astrologers. Their observations of these heavenly bodies might well be called the study of astronomy.”

Hawaiʻi’s last King, Kalākaua, has been referred to as a Renaissance man. While seeking to revive many elements of Hawaiian culture that were slipping away, the King also promoted the advancement of modern sciences, art and literature … and astronomy.

King Kalākaua has also been described as a monarch with a technical and scientific bent and an insatiable curiosity for modern devices. He became king in 1874. Edison and others were still experimenting with electric lights at that time.

Five years after Kalākaua and Edison met (1881,) Charles Otto Berger, a Honolulu-based insurance executive with mainland connections, organized a demonstration of “electric light” at ʻIolani Palace, on the night of July 26, 1886.

“The first telephone ever used in Honolulu belonged to King Kalākaua. Having been presented to him by the American Bell Telephone Company.” (Daily Bulletin, December 4, 1894) (It followed (1881) the placement of a phone in the White House (1879.))

Kalākaua addressed those astronomers in 1874 stating, “It will afford me unfeigned satisfaction if my kingdom can add its quota toward the successful accomplishment of the most important astronomical observation of the present century and assist, however humbly, the enlightened nations of the earth in these costly enterprises to establish the basis of astronomical distance.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 19, 1874)

(When American astronomer Simon Newcomb combined the 18th century data with those from the 1874/1882 Venus transits, he derived an Earth-sun distance of 149.59 +/- 0.31 million kilometers (about 93-million miles,) very close to the results found with modern space technology in the 20th century.)

Kalākaua later helped astronomy with the Transit of Mercury (November 7, 1881.) “The king, Kalākaua, offered me the free occupancy of the site from which the observations of the Transit of Venus were made in December 1874 …” (Rockwell, Royal Astronomical Society)

The King then took his trip around the world, “Among our passengers on the voyage to San Francisco was a well-known Englishman, a lecturer on astronomy, returning from Australia.”

“’He discussed with the King the astral theories of the Polynesians, which were, it must be confessed, not as advanced as those held by the present generation of Europeans, but quite as valuable as those of learned men two centuries before, who believed that comets were sent by the Almighty to frighten men into obedience.”

“The King became much interested in these semi-scientific conversations, and at the end of the voyage their effect upon him was shown after a not altogether unexpected fashion.” (Judd; Around the World with the King)

Later, in 1881, during his travels to the US, King Kalākaua visited the Lick Observatory in California and was the first to view through its new 12” telescope (which was temporarily set up for that purpose in the unfinished dome.)

“Then that magnificent type of a man, stalwart fellow with black hair, splendid features and bronzed complexion stood before Mr Lick, and said that he had heard what Mr Lick had done, and that he proposed to do for the state, that he thanked him on behalf of humanity.” (Wright)

“Kalākaua arrived … at a crucial time, as the first important astronomical venture on Mount Hamilton was about to be launched. The 12-inch dome was not yet finished.”

They improvised “by mounting the telescope temporarily on the pier in the open air. The next morning … he again went up the ‘hill.’ He told (Thomas Edward) Fraser (builder of the Lick Observatory) he was delighted with what he saw and wanted a transit at his place.” (Wright)

Hawaiʻi had a chance for a Hale Kilo Hoku (observatory or astronomy building (Pukui)) in 1887. Harvard College Observatory issued a circular, “looking about for a suitable site for a station.”

“It appears that by the will of the late Uriah A Boyden, property the present value of which exceeds $230,000 was left in trust for the purpose of astronomical research, ‘at such an elevation as to be free, so far as practicable from the impediments to accurate observations now existing owing to atmospheric influences.’”

“A location in the southern hemisphere will be preferable for various reasons one of which is that ‘the southern stars invisible in Europe and the United States have been less observed than the northern stars and by the aid of a southern station the investigations undertaken at Cambridge can be extended upon a uniform system to all parts of the sky.” (Harvard)

“There is no doubt Professor Alexander (of the Hawaiian Government) will be able to show that the Hawaiian Islands are fully qualified to fulfill some, if not all, of the required conditions (called for in the Harvard prospectus.)” (Daily Herald, April 13, 1887)

“The response to the Circulars was enthusiastic. (Harvard) received letters recommending mountain sites in the Andes and the Himalayas, and in South Africa, Australia, Japan and Hawaiʻi.” (Harvard College Observatory) Harvard chose ‘Mount Harvard’ in Lima Peru for The Boyden Station of Harvard Observatory.

At the close of the decade Mauna Kea saw the construction of a 0.6-meter (24-inch) (1968) and 2.2-meter (88-inch) (1970) telescopes, provided to University of Hawaiʻi by the US Air Force and NASA.

These were followed by NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, 3.0-m, 1979; Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, 3.6-m, 1979; United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, 3.8-m, 1979; Keck I and Keck II, each 10-m, 1992 & 1996; Subaru Telescope, 8.3-m, 1999; Gemini Northern Telescope, 8.1-m, 1999; Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, 10.4-m, 1987; James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, 15-m, 1987; Submillimeter Array. 8x6m, 2002; and Very Long Baseline Array, 25m, 1992.

In 1891, while ill in bed, King Kalākaua recorded a message on a wax-type phonograph in the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Kalākaua died in San Francisco a few days later (January 20, 1891.)

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