Milestones:University of Hawaii's 2.2-meter (88-inch) Mauna Kea Telescope, 1970
Title
University of Hawaii's 2.2-meter (88-inch) Mauna Kea Telescope, 1970
Citation
Dedicated on 26 June 1970, the University of Hawaii's 2.2-meter (88-inch) astronomical telescope atop Mauna Kea's 13,796-foot peak was both the world's highest and the first to be controlled by a computer. Its location near the equator, above 40% of Earth's atmosphere and 90% of its water vapor, allowed observation of nearly the entire sky, and thereby enabled the most advanced and powerful Earth-based astronomical observations.
Street address(es) and GPS coordinates of the Milestone Plaque Sites
The University of Hawaiʻi 88-inch (2.24-meter) telescope (UH88) building on the 13,796' summit of Mauna Kea, via Mauna Kea Access Road (19.823021, -155.469339)
Details of the physical location of the plaque
To the left of the entryway to the UH88 building, under the plaque dated August 26, 2014 which commemorates the pioneers of astronomy on Mauna Kea.
How the plaque site is protected/secured
The public can access the summit during the day, but the road may close as snow or heavy wind can occur at any time of the year. Mauna Kea Access Road is paved up to the Visitor Information Center at the 9200' elevation level, which is where visitors must rest for a period to acclimate to the high elevation. Access beyond this point requires a 4-wheel drive vehicle because of its unpaved section, which is followed by a final paved section to the summit. Security protects the summit area.
Historical significance of the work
In the late 1950’s the space race started between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), leading to a great increase in interest in geophysics and planetary exploration. The University of Hawaii (UH) received funding from the National Science Foundation in 1961 to establish the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics (HIG), and one of the projects of this new institute was to build a solar observatory near the summit of Haleakala on the island of Maui. Haleakala reaches 3055 meters elevation and has a paved road enabling easy access to the peak.
Gerard Kuiper, Director of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, came to Hawaii to investigate the suitability of high-altitude sites for astronomical observatories. He visited the Haleakala site with his Native Hawaiian assistant, Alika Herring. Kuiper recognized the particular advantage of high-altitude sites as being above a significant amount of the earth’s atmosphere and in particular, almost all of the atmospheric water vapor, which strongly absorbs infrared radiation. They found conditions on Haleakala “excellent”, but subject to clouds and occasional fog. In the distance across the Alenuihaha Channel they could see the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii at 4,207 meters, and they noticed that it stood above the clouds almost all of the time.
At the invitation of Mitsuo Akiyama of the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, Kuiper visited the Big Island in 1964. He traveled to the end of the road at Hale Pohaku, at the 2800 meter elevation where conditions seemed promising, but travel beyond this point was only possible on foot. Kuiper then met with Hawaii Governor John Burns who agreed to fund a bulldozer to cut a dirt road to Pu’u Poliahu, a peak next to the summit. By April that road was finished and a small concrete slab was poured to make up the foundation for a dome, and there a 12.5 inch reflecting telescope was placed. In June of 1964, Herring began measurements of atmospheric clarity (called “seeing”) and of water content. Herring reported to Kuiper that on a scale of 0 (very poor) to 10 (perfect), many nights rated 9 or 10.
As was ultimately obvious to both Herring and Kuiper, the challenges of the location (addressed further below) were worth the cost and effort because of the quality of the viewing from the Big Island location. Being above the clouds is significant, but in addition being above the atmosphere in general reduces the impact of the air mass thermal instability on resolving power (how much can be clearly viewed). The air at lower elevations creates a scintillation effect on the images gathered, and this blurs content.
Kuiper proposed that NASA fund the relocation of a 28 inch telescope from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) to the top of Mauna Kea, which LPL would manage from their Tucson, Arizona location. As NASA administrators were concerned that LPL could be overextended, they solicited proposals from Hawaii and Harvard. At the time, the University of Hawaii didn’t have an astronomy department – just a few solar astronomers led by John Jeffries at HIG. Jefferies enlisted UH President Thomas Hamilton to lobby the Hawaii State government, to provide roughly 3 million dollars for infrastructure . With Governor Burns' enthusiastic support, this funding was included in the UH proposal to NASA. On July 1, 1965, NASA awarded the contract to the UH.
At a June 26, 1970 dedication ceremony of the new observatory, Kuiper proclaimed “This mountaintop . . . is probably the best site in the world – I repeat – in the world, from which to study the Moon, the Planets, the Stars . . . It is a jewel! This is the place where the most advanced and powerful observations from this Earth can be made.”
Obstacles that needed to be overcome
The largest problem was dealing with the location. The original dirt road was lengthened by adding some switchbacks, but was still unpaved and steep in sections. Travel time from concrete plants on the island was too long, and concrete would begin to set up in the trucks. To deal with this, a “batch plant” was set up below the summit cinder cone. Cement, sand, aggregate, and water were trucked up to the plant and mixed there, where it could be delivered to the construction site in a fraction of an hour.
The telescope itself was built by Boller and Chivens, a telescope manufacturer in Pasadena, California. Everything had to come up the long road to the summit site, and the telescope had to be designed for self-sufficiency. The observatory dome included a “horn” – an extension added near the top of the dome – that carried a crane, so the 88 inch mirror could be lifted out of the telescope and lowered into a wing of the building. There it could be placed in a large vacuum chamber where aluminum vapor could be deposited on the mirror to renew the reflective surface. Workers had to acclimatize to the altitude at the summit, and they lived in a temporary building at the end of the paved road at Hale Pohaku (Stone House) when not working. When completed the telescope was the first to be controlled by computer, an IBM 1800.
To be clear, light gathering systems are defined by a physical limiting function that has three parameters:
1. Wavelength
2. Distance to target
3. Aperture diameter
The relevant equation defines a direct relation between the diameter and the resolution (clarity) one can achieve with a system. Several smaller telescopes can only add up to one if they are fully coordinated down to the nanometer level, which was impossible in the 1970s, and which is still exquisitely expensive/difficult even in the 2020s (this coordination process is called phasing). By doing the extra work to build out the larger primary aperture, the value of the collector was improved dramatically.
It should be noted that the logistic difficulties in building this site in Hawaii were some of the most significant ever for the development of a scientific research location. These difficulties are greater only in Antarctica. Ultimately, the decision to build at the site was vindicated by the degree of collection success.
Features that set this work apart from similar achievements
Significance of the Technical Achievement and Historical Content:
1) In 1970, this was the world’s highest computer-controlled astronomical telescope (UH News 6/26/2020).
2) In the 1970s, data collected was used to support Apollo missions to the Moon.
3) In the 1980s, the site studied and discovered dozens of Pluto-like objects (UH News 6/26/2020).
4) 1992 discoveries include the Kuiper Belt and distant objects beyond Neptune and this led to the demotion and declassification of Pluto as a planet. (UH News 6/26/2020).
5) The platform was used to develop new tools for telescopes that are now industry standard around the world (UH News 6/26/2020).
6) In 1992 the Mauna Kea Keck observatory was completed, and the 2020 Nobel Prize award acknowledged the prestigious Mauna Kea facility pioneering discovery that our galaxy has at its center a supermassive black hole (Sagittarius A). This effort was led by Prof Ghez of UCLA (Midweek 2/3/2021). The site became fully automated for remote robotic control from UH-Hilo (work done by Christoph Baranec).
As to the uniqueness of this site, there are only six other major observatories for astronomical collection:
1. Palomar (California)
2. Lowell (Arizona)
3. Haleakala Maui Scopes (Hawaii)
4. Aricebo (Puerto Rico)
5. Hubble (Space Telescope I)
6. Keck (Space Telescope II)
The great majority of the astronomical discoveries that define our cosmological understanding were made at these sites.
Additionally, the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KSO) is located at a high altitude in the Palani Hills of Southern India, which is near the equator and where it receives little dust. It was established in 1899 by the British, and is India's oldest observatory. It is owned and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. The KSO has one of the world's longest continuous records of the sun, with thousands of images recorded daily since the early 20th century. The observatory's data is unique because it includes simultaneous observations in different wavelengths, making it suitable for multi-wavelength studies.
Significant references
1) University of Hawaii (UH) News article 6-26-2020: “Maunakea’s First Large Telescope Celebrates 50 Years of Science”.
a. UH’s 88-inch (UH-88) telescope celebrated it’s golden (50th) anniversary on June 26, 2020. Dedicated June 26, 1970, it was the 8th largest in the world. Today it is the smallest operational telescope on Mauna Kea. b. Decades of incredible scientific output, and unparalleled astronomy from Mauna Kea, the observatory continues to modernize and pave the way for others. c. Before digital cameras, astronomers manually guided the telescope using photographic plates and later analog electronic detectors. Today it is fully robotic with automated control systems with multiple cameras. d. It is the only telescope on Mauna Kea dedicated to UH astronomers. e. UH-88 was used to make important discoveries and develop tools that astronomers use at telescopes around the world and in space. i. Mark Rognstad Input: 1. In the 1970s, the UH-88 was used in support of the Apollo missions tracking the Moon landings sites. 2. In the 1980s, the UH-88 was used for robotic missions tracking deep space probes. ii. Starting in the 1980s the UH-88 was used to search for Pluto-like objects and found dozens. In 1992, discovered the Kuiper Belt, distant objects beyond Neptune. This led astronomers to realize Pluto was one of these large objects in the Kuiper Belt, which resulted in the demotion of Pluto from a planet. iii. New tools like “HAWAII” series of infrared imaging detectors (HgCdTe Astronomical Wide Area Imager). HAWAII arrays are now industry standard on many telescopes around the world. iv. In 2008, UH-88 was the first telescope on Mauna Kea to switch to fully automate remote observing.
2) Honolulu, Hawaii Midweek article 2-3-2021: “Starring Role: In Claiming the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics, Astronomer Andrea Ghez Sheds New Light on Black Holes and Their Intimate Connection to the Evolution of the Milky Way”. a. At the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Prof Ghez made the pioneering discovery that our galaxy has at its center a supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A (A-Star). b. 27 year-long effort leading up to the discovery of A-Star earned her the Nobel Prize and she’s happy to share with Hawaii’s prestigious Mauna Kea facility (Keck).
3) Christoph’s e-mail dated 10-18-2022 showed current plaque on UH-88 site: NASA and NSF provided significant funding support for the UH-88 for Solar System Astronomy. See photo of site dedication plaque June 26, 1970 mentioning funds from NASA and NSF.
4) Partial transcript from John Jefferies interview 7-29-1977:
a. At the end of 1963, after a site visit to Haleakala which had many other installations and was crowded, Kuiper also visited Mauna Kea, which was inaccessible to motor transportation. He liked what he saw better than Haleakala and put up a site testing dome.
b. In early 1964 after Gov Burns bulldoze a crude road to allow Kuiper access to the top of Puu Poliahu cinder cone, he installed a little U of AZ dome with a 10-12 inch telescope for seeing tests. Kuiper concluded Mauna Kea was the best site in the world for ground-based astronomy. c. In 1964 two groups, the Univ of Arizona and Harvard University had competing telescope proposal designs for NASA’s $3M grant. d. On July 1, 1965 UH announced an award of $3M contract to build the UH-88. e. The primary “trouble” was with the control system, programmer working on the IBM 1800. This was one of the first computer-controlled telescopes if you include the Defense Department instruments that were computer controlled at the time. Integrating a telescope drive mechanism with the IBM 1800 computer involving instrumentation, electronic control, and electronic data acquisition system. Also, UH-88 needed electronic engineering in-house.
5) Encyclopedia Britannica report updated 2-12-2024: “Mauna Kea Observatory”. See detailed report.
6) A Gentle Rain of Starlight: The Story of Astronomy on Mauna Kea Paperback – October 15, 2005by Michael J. West (Author).
7) A Sky Wonderful with Stars: 50 Years of Modern Astronomy on Maunakea (Latitude 20) Hardcover – Illustrated, July 31, 2015 by Michael J. West (Author).
8) Mauna Kea: A Guide to Hawaii's Sacred Mountain Paperback – November 15, 2013by Leslie Lang (Author), David A. Byrne (Author).
Supporting materials
- UH Telescope on Maunakea to earn global honor
- University of Hawaiʻi’s telescope dedicated in 1970 now honored for enduring impact on space exploration
- Maunakea UH88 telescope earns top global engineering honor
- Milestone Dedication Program Slides
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