Visiting Mauna Kea Observatory

Hi all,

I'll be nearby this summer and would like to visit Mauna Kea Observatory. How should this be done? Take a tour, rent a four wheel drive? What? And what equipment would you take to do a liitle observing from the visitor center? (That last question was just to keep it on topic. If I take anything it will be a small refractor on a photo tripod.)

Alex

You can take the tour, but if the weather turns cloudy, they might cancel; this happened to me. You aren't supposed to drive the rental cars on the saddle road, which cuts across the island and takes you to the Mauna Kea turnoff, but with one day left and no tour, I chanced it. It's not as bad as you might imagine, paved and little traffic. A jeep would be quite unnecessary.

You will need to stop awhile at the visitors' center at 9000' altitude to acclimate. My understanding is that access to the summit may be limited now, I don't know. After leaving the visitors' center we drove up to the observatories. I almost fell on my face when I got out of the car. There's no air up there! It was amazing to see all the domes.

It was cloudy when I was there, but you can see what a wonderful spot it is. There are many places between the base and the summit where you could pull off the road and set up a scope, although I'm not sure if there are rules about that.

Good luck!

James Adams