Sunday, February 12, 2012

13,600 Feet Closer to the Stars


13,600 Feet Closer to the Stars, originally uploaded by Sky Noir.

Located on the barren Mauna Kea volcano top are the twin domes of the two 10 meter telescopes that comprise the W. M. Keck Observatory (centered). The building on the left houses the Subaru Telescope (すばる望遠鏡), at 8.2 meters it's the premiere telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. The silver dome on the right is NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (NASA IRTF) with a 3-meter (9.8 ft) telescope optimized for use in infrared astronomy. All at 4,145 meters (13,600 ft) near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.