Mauna Kea : pinnacle of the Pacific

Author:

Krisciunas, Kevin, Weisel, Dorian

Title:

Mauna Kea : pinnacle of the Pacific

Year:

1999

Pages:

78, 15 leaves

Subject:

Mauna Kea Astronomical observatories Mauna Kea history

Summary:

This document briefly describes the formation of the Hawaiian Islands and Mauna Kea as well as the volcanic history of the five mountains that are on the island of Hawaii -- Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Mt. Hualalai, the Kohala Mountains, and the most active, Kilauea. Plants, such as the mamane trees, and species, such as the palila bird and the Wekiu bug, are also briefly mentioned as well as the arrival of the Polynesians, that caused the ecology of Hawaii to abruptly change. Various areas on Mauna Kea are mentioned such as the adze quarry that is located at the 12,000 foot level, and Lake Waiau, a two acre lake that is located at the 13,000 foot level where it was traditional for the early Hawaiians to deposit the umbilical cords of their new born babies. It was customary for the Hawaiian people to bury their relatives at this elevation. Early travelers to Mauna Kea are mentioned such as the Reverend Joseph Goodrich, (after whom the Goodrich pass was named), who was the first non-Hawaiian to reach the summit of Mauna Kea in 1823. Mention is also made of a botanist named James Macrae, who accompanied Goodrich to the summit in 1825, and another botanist named David Douglas, (after whom the Douglas fir tree is named), who visited the summit of Mauna Kea in 1831. Other expeditions were made to the summit by James Jarves, (who visited Mauna Kea in July of 1840 and made astronomical observations at the summit of Mauna Loa in December of 1840). C. E. Dutton, Charles H. Hitchcock, E. D. Baldwin, and E. D. Preston, were others who visited the summit in 1882, 1886, 1889, and 1892, respectively. The first geologist, who documented the glacial history of the mountain, was Reginald Aldworth Daly who visited Mauna Kea in 1909. Mention is also made of the last major expedition to Mauna Kea that was made by the Hawaiian Academy of Sciences in 1935, prior to the summit becoming an astronomical Mecca. The author describes how King David Kalakaua was one of the first eager visitors to the Lick Observatory in California who was treated to a view of the heavens through a 12-inch telescope. Also described is how the first astronomical observation that was taken in Hawaii was of the transit of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun 1847, how photographs were taken of Comet Halley in Honolulu in 1910, and how Mauna Kea was established as an astronomical site. He mentions the building of the first stone cabins, (known today as Hale Pohaku), that were built in 1940 at the 9200-foot level of Mauna Kea and describes how the start of astronomy research began in Hawaii in 1957 with the establishment of a solar observatory at Makapuu Point on Oahu, a satellite tracking station at Haleakala in Maui, the building of a U.S. Weather Bureau station on Mauna Loa in 1956, and the establishment of a full fledged solar observatory that was completed on Haleakala in 1962. This lead to the eventual focus on Mauna Kea as the future and ideal site for astronomy, due to its very dry atmospheric conditions and many other attributes that made Mauna Kea the premiere site for the operation of the world class observatories that are on the summit today. The author describes the characteristics of each of the telescopes, the methods used in obtaining images of the heavens, a variety of discoveries that have been made via these telescopes, and the results of the work that has been done throughout the years.

Collection:

Monographs