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Mauna Kea : pinnacle of the Pacific / photography by Dorian Weisel ; text by Kevin Krisciunas.

by Krisciunas, Kevin, 1953-

Honolulu, Hawaii : Bishop Museum Press, 1999.

Astronomical observatories -- Hawaii -- Mauna Kea -- History.

Mauna Kea (Hawaii)

78, 15 leaves : ill., maps ; 29 cm.

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.

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