Temporary optical test sites for the W. M. Keck Observatory Twin Keck Telescope Interferometer; Project description and environmental review

Author:

MCM Planning,

Title:

Temporary optical test sites for the W. M. Keck Observatory Twin Keck Telescope Interferometer; Project description and environmental review

Periodical:

Keck

Year:

1998

Subject:

W.M. Keck Observatory Environmental impact analysis Site surveys

Summary:

The California Association for Research in Astronomy (CARA) has asked the University of Hawaii, Institute for Astronomy (UH IfA), for permission to install two temporary optical test sites on the W. M. Keck Observatory subleased parcel within the summit area of the Mauna Kea Science Reserve. Each of the proposed sites will include a siderostat and an enclosure for weather protection. Underground optical paths will connect the test sites to the instrumentation housed in the basement of the Keck II telescope building. The temporary sites will be removed at the completion of the development testing. All of the areas to be affected by the proposed optical test sites was fully assessed in the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Mauna Kea Science Reserve Complex Development Plan (SRCDP FEIS), (RCUH, 1983). University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy finds that the environmental effects of the proposed temporary optical test sites would not differ significantly from those addressed in previous documents and does not expect new and/or different environmental impacts from those previously assessed for the Keck telescopes.

Collection:

EIS