Skip to main content Skip to Search Box
Listen
Email

Topic Pages contain an overview, definitions, biographies, related topics, images, plus links to relevant articles and other content provided by your library. Topic Page: Mauna Kea

Definition: Mauna Kea from Collins English Dictionary

n

1 an extinct volcano in Hawaii, on N central Hawaii island: the highest island mountain in the world. Height: 4206 m (13 799 ft)

Summary Article: Mauna Kea
from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide

Astronomical observatory in Hawaii, built on a dormant volcano of that name at 4,200 m/13,784 ft above sea level. Because of its elevation high above clouds, atmospheric moisture, and artificial lighting, Mauna Kea is ideal for infrared astronomy. The first telescope on the site was installed in 1970.

Telescopes include the 2.24-m/88-in University of Hawaii reflector (1970). In 1979 three telescopes were erected: the 3.8-m/150-in United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) (also used for optical observations); the 3-m/120-in NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF); and the 3.6-m/142-in Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), designed for optical and infrared work. The 15-m/600-in diameter UK/Netherlands James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) is the world's largest telescope specifically designed to observe millimetre wave radiation from nebulae, stars, and galaxies. The JCMT is operated via satellite links by astronomers in Europe. The Keck Telescopes, are also situated on Mauna Kea. In 1999 the 8.1-m/319-in Gemini North reflector saw ‘first light’. It is partnered with an identical telescope, Gemini South, at Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes.

In 1996 the capacity of the JCMT was enhanced by the addition of SCUBA (Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array). SCUBA is a camera comprising numerous detectors cooled to within a tenth of a degree of absolute zero (0 K) and is the world's most sensitive instrument at the 0.3–1.0-mm/0.01–0.04-in wavelength.

weblinks

Mauna Kea Observatories

"Mauna Kea." In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide, edited by Helicon. Helicon, 2018. https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/mauna_kea
Mauna Kea. (2018). In Helicon (Ed.), The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia with atlas and weather guide. [Online]. Abington: Helicon. Available from: https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/mauna_kea [Accessed 23 March 2019].
"Mauna Kea." The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide, edited by Helicon, 2018. Credo Reference, https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/mauna_kea. Accessed 23 Mar. 2019.
© RM, 2018. All rights reserved.

Related Articles

Full text Article Mauna Kea
Philip's Encyclopedia

(White Mountain) Dormant shield volcano in central Hawaii, USA. At 4,205m (13,796ft), Mauna Kea is the highest island mountain in the world. On...

Full text Article Mauna Kea Observatory
Encyclopedia of the History of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A tsunami devastated the town of Hilo on Hawaii in May 1960, causing serious problems for the local economy. As a result, ideas were put forward to

Full text Article Mauna Kea
Collins Dictionary of Astronomy

mow -nah kay -ah A dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii whose high-altitude summit (4200 meters, 13 800 ft) lies above almost half...

See more from Credo