August 19, 2010

Hawaii Astrophotography Part 2: Mauna Kea

Where to start? While in Hawaii on a family vacation, I was able to go up to Mauna Kea. That's 13,796 feet above sea level and plenty of feet above the clouds. This makes it pretty much THE place for astronomy, since being so high up reduces the amount of atmosphere between you and the stars (less twinkling, more clarity) and being in Hawaii above the clouds means there's essentially NO light pollution. To save space on the blog, my favorites are up here in the gallery. But here are my two favorite star shots from the night. Only wish I could have gotten more!


The Milky Way through Sagittarius and Scorpius
180s f5.6 ISO1600

The Milky Way as it appeared to the naked eye (roughly)
120s f5.6 ISO1600

What did I learn? I wish I had higher ISO levels on my camera to get brighter stars (though more noise, but I'm sure there's a nice happy medium). I wish I had had a star-tracking mount (it would have been ridiculous to bring my telescope mount with me on the plane).
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2 comments:

  1. KyleFebruary 25, 2012 at 3:56 AM

    Do they allow people at Mauna Kea after dark? I thought they made you leave at like 4:00pm ?

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    1. UnknownFebruary 25, 2012 at 8:47 PM

      http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/visiting-mauna-kea.html has the visitors information.
      The visitors center, about 4,000 feet lower, is the place to be, given the 24-hour bathrooms, lower winds, and higher temperatures. That's where this shot was taken (see the red hue and lens flare from the nearby building?)

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