Discoveries using the telescopes on Mauna Kea

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Point, counterpoint.

[TomK]

I enjoyed that, HOTPE, thank you! Sadly, it's so often true.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Deadline for comments on the proposed UHH teaching telescope on Mauna Kea is October 24, 2022.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA) on its proposal to locate the school’s 28-inch educational telescope at Halepōhaku, the mid-level facility on Maunakea, is available for public review and comment.

The proposed project includes a 14-foot high, 18-foot diameter dome that will house the teaching telescope. The dome will be placed on a yet to be constructed wooden deck that will connect to an existing building at Halepōhaku.

A DEA is required by the Hawaiʻi Board of Land and Natural Resources for astronomy facilities placed within the state conservation district, and it is triggered by the use of state land and funds. The DEA for the UH Hilo teaching telescope anticipates a finding of no significant impact. The deadline to provide comments on the DEA is October 24. 

https://bigislandgazette.com/public-inpu...telescope/

Comments are due by October 24, 2022. The public is encouraged to provide written comments on the Draft EA through the following methods:

• Email: jscheffel@ssfm.com
  
  
• USPS:  SSFM International, Inc.
  

       ATTN: Jennifer Scheffel
       99 Aupuni Street, Suite 202
       Hilo, Hawaii  96720

• Leave a comment in the form below:https://uhhet.konveio.com

[eightfingers2.0]

Tom, did any of the MK telescopes pick up Dart’s impact on that asteroid? I read some telescopes did, but never mentioned which ones.

[TomK]

Tom, did any of the MK telescopes pick up Dart’s impact on that asteroid? I read some telescopes did, but never mentioned which ones.

Yes, observatories on Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Haleakala all observed the event. More info here:

https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2022/09/27/u...collision/

[kalianna]

I find it interesting that although Dart made a direct hit on the asteroid, it will take a couple of months to know how that impact will affect the astroid's orbit.

[TomK]

"I find it interesting that although Dart made a direct hit on the asteroid, it will take a couple of months to know how that impact will affect the astroid's orbit."

Yes, this is why it's so important to find an asteroid that threatens the planet as early as possible, hence the new emphasis on "planetary defense" observatories and projects in Hawaii and elsewhere in recent years. We now have the technology to launch something that will hit an asteroid and deflect it but that change in direction is very small, so the earlier you can carry out such an intercept the better the chances of success. Remember, you're trying to deflect something that is the size of a small mountain that is moving very quickly with a relatively small probe that has a tiny mass relative to the asteroid. In order to measure that small change in direction, you need a lot of time to reduce the observational errors. Unlike the way some Hollywood movies depict, you can't measure an orbit with just one or two observations.

['elepaio]

shilling for job security ..Its pretty easy math Tom and we don't need you... but go go go on with u thing yo.

[TomK]

Its pretty easy math Tom

Then go ahead and show us the math.

[TomK]

How's the math going?

https://youtu.be/hlLzgUn5tPI