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The Gemini North Telescope

My last night at Mauna Kea I spent at the Gemini North Telescope. After signing some forms I was allowed to sit in on an observing session at the telescope and ask the astronomers a bunch of questions. It is probably the most fascinating telescope I have seen thus far. Here are some of the things I was shown on the “Grand Tour”.

The Gemini North cooling system. The instruments are supercooled with liquid Helium

The Gemini North sideports allow for proper ventilation so that the telescope and instruments are at the same temperature as outside. In the background you see the summit of Mauna Kea on the left, University of Hawaii telescope in the middle and the UKIRT telescope on the right.

The huge Gemini 8.1 meter mirror. Note this mirror is huge, although my fisheye lens makes it look small.

Way up there sits the Gemini secondary mirror.

The dustplate at sunset. This reflective plate is used to manually estimate how much dust has settled on the mirror since it was last cleaned.

Me next to the telescope. My smile says it all. Visiting the telescope was amazing.

The Gemini telescope with all it's instruments at cassegrain focus.

Keck 1 with it's laser guider on

Me on the top of the Mauna Kea summit 4205m (13,796 ft)

Some of the Earths most sophisticated telescopes are located at the summit of Mauna Kea. The site provides excellent seeing (0.2 – 0.4″ on good nighs) and many clear nights. At an altitude of about 4000 meters it is well above most of the weather experienced at sea level.

This parody of Hotel California in my opinion sums up what it is like being here:

Me in the CFHT control room

I am currently working on the OHANA project together with the OHANA team, who aim to make a large and sensitive optical/IR array with the Mauna Kea 3 to 10 meter telescopes. The telescopes will be linked with single-mode fibers to carry the coherence of the beams from the output of the telescopes adaptive optics systems to the  beam  combination  units. Currently we are working in the prototype which consists of a whole lot of fiber optics and two 8 inch Celestron telescopes. The goal for this week is to get a interferometric fringe pattern using light from bright stars imaged in H-band.

Me next to the two telescopes used for the OHANA prototype

Gemini Telescope

Subaru, Keck and IRTF telescopes

I woke up at 4.30 in the morning hoping to get an image of the volcano with the stars in the background. Sadly though, I had foggy and wet weather, making it hard to properly see the Volcano.

Kilauea Volcano

Kilauea Caldera

Snorkeling in the southern part of Hawaii was great despite the wet weather.

Boatrace in Hilo bay

Huge trees in Hilo

Beautiful parks in Hilo

Diving in Hawaii was great. The waters were very clear and there was loads of sea life. Highlights include going into caves and seeing a huge turtle.

I was much happier than I look.

Just spotted the big sea turtle.

My initial plan today was to go surfing, but due to the small waves I decided to go snorkeling instead. What I saw under water was so impressive that I decided to go and buy a underwater case for my camera so I could show it to you all. To view the photos I took, check out the underwater gallery.

Two turtles I met whilst snorkeling

The trip over to Hawaii was very enjoyable despite the long travel time. Sitting by the window gave me real visual treat. Here are a few snapshots from the journey over:

The Rockies in Canada

The food on the aircraft. The yellow slab on the left is butter.

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Alcatraz Prison

City of San Francisco

Bed waiting for my tired body

Surrounded by people of all nationalities, I sit hunched over my laptop in the middle of a busy Heathrow airport. Ahead of me, is 16.5 hours of flight, but I come prepared with all sorts of stuff to read and do. That is, whilst the battery lasts and before I have to resort to reading something that does not need a battery, a.k.a book. My observations for the CFHT (Canada France Hawaii Telescope) have all been planned and I can’t wait to look at the stars under the best night sky in the world.

I was asked today if I would like to travel to Hawaii next month and observe binary stars using the 3.6 meter CFHT telescope. With a passion for observing and also never having been to Hawaii before I said yes. I plan to cover my trip and also share the experiences of what it is like to be an observational astronomer so stay tuned.