Big Island’s Maunakea is the front row seat to discover what’s in the universe | Big island now

In the spring of 2019, astronomer Doug Simons found it difficult to sleep at night after seeing the world’s first image of a black hole, taken by the international collaboration of the Event Horizon Telescope project which includes two telescopes at the Maunakea summit.

The black center was surrounded by a ring of light, gas that is over a billion degrees hot and practically spirals forever into the black hole.

Simons, now director of the University of Hawaii’s Institute of Astronomy, was fascinated by the mind-boggling physics that occurs as the behemoth distorts space and time in that region of the universe and by the engineering feat required to capture its image. . He thought, “Wow, it’s a different world.”

The first image of a black hole, given the Hawaiian name Pwehi, joins other historic astronomy discoveries:

All of the discoveries were made possible thanks to powerful telescopes atop the Big Island’s nearly 14,000-foot Maunakea, which is revered around the world as one of the best places for terrestrial astronomy.

Discovery after discovery and observation after observation, whether by a single observatory or in collaboration with others locally, across the state or around the world, have shown that Maunakea’s front row seat for Earth’s atmosphere and the cosmos has no equal.

The summit of Maunakea is home to the largest astronomical observatory in the world, with 12 telescopes operated by astronomers from 11 countries. The combined light-gathering power of these telescopes is 15 times greater than the Palomar Telescope in California, which was for many years the largest in the world, and 60 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope.

Observations from the Big Island summit are made every night and humans learn something new, said R. Pierre Martin, associate professor, director of the observatory and co-chair of the physics and astronomy department at UH-Hilo.

Since the first telescope was dedicated and became operational on Maunakea in the 1970s, thousands of research papers are being published — some 3,000 a year, or nearly 10 a day, according to Martin. And hundreds of thousands of hours of observation have led to greater knowledge of the universe and scientific progress.

“Every day, the astronomical data Maunakea provides us expands our understanding of the universe, ranging from our solar system to the distant reaches of the cosmos,” said Mary Beth Laychak, director of communications and community engagement at Canada-France -Hawaii Telescope.

The astronomy industry supported by the mountain also has a large economic impact on the Big Island and the state.

The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization reports that astronomy activities generated $68 million in Hawaii employment income, $10 million in state taxes, and 1,313 jobs statewide in 2019, the most recent year for which it has data.

Taking into account indirect and induced benefits and adjusting for cross-county feedback efforts, the astronomy sector had a total impact of $221 million on the production of goods and services in Hawaii that year.

The extensive impact astronomy has on Hawaii’s science and economy is due to the unique geology, geography, and atmospheric conditions of Hawaii’s tallest shield volcano. And perhaps most important is the shape of the volcano and its surroundings.

“As a shield volcano, the mauna’s delicate shape leads to ideal wind conditions at the summit compared to the turbulence of other mountains like the Rockies or the Andes, which have more jagged peaks,” Laychak said.

The Big Island’s location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean also means that air currents are incredibly stable as they move across the island, according to astronomy educator Emily Peavy.

Weather patterns lead to a distinct temperature inversion layer where cool, dry air from the upper atmosphere meets warm, tropical, and often voggy air from the lower atmosphere. Laychak said the inversion layer is well below Maunakea’s summit, leading to often clear, cloudless nights that are ideal for observing.

Subaru Telescope Senior Staff Astronomer Ichi Tanaka and his team once spent hours snapping images of distant galaxies at an observatory in Japan only to get a dim and poor view of the universe. He said the sharpness of an image can be five to ten times better from the top of Maunakea than the best in Japan.

The atmosphere is also much more rarefied above the mauna. There is far less atmosphere separating the summit from space itself, meaning there is less atmospheric interference. Maunakea’s summit is above 40 percent of Earth’s atmosphere, which gives observers an advantage especially when it comes to looking into areas of the electromagnetic spectrum that aren’t possible at lower altitudes.

“The atmosphere protects us from the ultraviolet light of the sun. Less atmosphere means more ultraviolet light that’s bad for sunburns, but great for astronomers looking to study objects that emit most of their light in the UV,” Laychack said. “Similarly at that altitude, telescopes have a unique window into the infrared and microwave wavelengths that are commonly blocked at lower altitudes by water in the atmosphere.”

The mountain’s location in the Pacific and distance from major population centers also provide some of the darkest skies in the world, reducing light pollution and other man-made “noise” that can make observing incredibly difficult. The county of Hawaii even has an outdoor lighting ordinance to reduce the amount of light it radiates into the night sky.

Hawaii’s unique location also offers a larger view of the space.

“While places like Arizona can only see the Northern Hemisphere sky and places like Australia only see the Southern Hemisphere sky, our location within the tropics means we can observe 100 % of the Northern Hemisphere sky and 80% of the Southern Hemisphere over the course of a full year,” Peavy said.

There are other places around the world, including Chile, Spain, and even Antarctica, that might compare, but they can’t compete when you add up all the benefits Maunakea offers to astronomy along with others like being close enough to cities, therefore scientists and other observatory and astronomy personnel can live and work on the island. The location also helps reduce downtime when maintenance is needed or other technical problems arise.

“When you add it all up, that’s how you get this kind of metric of an exquisitely good site for astronomy,” Simons said.

Tanaka said that thanks to Maunakea and the observatories there, Hawaii has become a world leader in astronomy and the people of the state can be proud of that.

It’s not just professional astronomers who can look up and into the universe from the top of the mountain.

Anyone can do it with tools like the Subaru-Asahi Star Camera. The 24/7 live feed provided by the camera looking at the sky above Maunakea helps people feel closer to the cosmos.

“I truly feel that Maunakea is Earth’s best gateway connecting humans and the universe,” Tanaka said.

The research, discoveries, and observations made under the Big Island’s superb mountain conditions also bring humans closer to understanding larger issues. The observation of Population III stars, the first stars to illuminate the universe that were only theoretical until observed by telescopes on Maunakea, is just one example.

Peavy argued that none of the heavy elements that make up the human body (iron, carbon, calcium, oxygen, etc.) would exist unless those stars were created after the Big Bang.

“When we look at these stars, we are looking at our own creation in the universe,” he said. “When we look into the universe, we find our origins.”

Editor’s note: On July 1, management of more than 11,000 acres atop Maunakea Hawaii’s tallest mountain and sacred land for many Native Hawaiians began a five-year transition from the University of Hawaii, which has managed it since 1968 , to a new state agency created last year by the Hawaii Legislature.

The Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority’s new 11-member board is charged with formulating a master plan during that transitional period to balance culture and the environment with astronomy and economic benefits.

Next week, Big Island Now examines the importance of Maunakeas to Hawaiian culture.