Discoveries using the telescopes on Mauna Kea

[dan d]

Tom is right. The time on all telescopes is so valuable that most institutions must submit there requests years in advance, and hope the night they get on the Mauna are not cloudy that nite.

If it is they have to resubmit there request. Only large blocks of telescope time are for especially important observations,or very unusual thing happening, such as the break up of the comet that hit Jupiter Leavy . Or an impact on the moon etc.

Most viewing windows for time are strictly parceled out. Telescope time is precious. Most people dont realise this but you can offer to be a telesope operator with little astronomy backround.

Its hard work in tough conditions,think breathing at 14 k feet on reduced oxygen supply and -4 C. But omg what a view on your lunch break. And the food down at HP at 9 kk ft is very good. I think of it as being that much closer to god, the Mauna is a spiritual place for me. Thats why I was sooo bumed when it became political. A spiritual place has NO room for politics imho.

Happy holidays


HPP

[TomK]

Thanks, Dan. Most of the jobs at the MK observatories are not for astronomers but for people with reasonable technical backgrounds, i.e., technicians, engineers, computer and admin skills. Astronomers make up a tiny proportion of people working at the observatories.

So, I'm about to head off to spend Christmas with Pam, but there are a couple of news stories for now:

"NASA Research Reveals Saturn is Losing Its Rings at “Worst-Case-Scenario” Rate"

Saturn's rings may not last much longer as they are raining their material onto the planet. The planet may look very different from those of us that live a few hundred million more years than we expect (make sure you have your 401K in order). This is from observations made at the Keck on MK.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/godda.../ring-rain

Even the universe produces orphans

The Big Bang produced a lot of hydrogen and some helium (very roughly, the ratio was 75:25) but hardly any elements heavier than helium and those needed to create life in the universe. Those heavier atoms only got produced when H and He combined under high pressures and temperatures, i.e., the cores of massive stars. We know that at some point differences in the distribution of those atoms led to the formation of galaxies and then stars, but it seems one or two regions were left out of the star birth orgy. They still show something close to the original elemental abundance the universe once had.

Observations from the Keck on MK.

https://phys.org/news/2018-12-rare-relic...verse.html

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

"But this particular cloud seems pristine, unpolluted by stars ...”

It’s incredible how far back in time our largest telescopes can see. With the next generation observatories entering service in the 2020’s, both earth and space based, we may get a glimpse even farther back, closer to “in the beginning.”

I hope you and Pam enjoy the holidays together Tom, Happy Christmas!

[TomK]

Thank you, HOTPE, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of Punaweb from Pam, myself and the staff at UKIRT.

[dan d]

Kudos to you tom for putting up with us,and making a safe home to visit during lava flow.
Hope u have a nice time with pam

Aloha


HPP

[dan d]

http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2018/1...-captured/

Xmas comet
"We three punatics from east hawii come"
Lol
Melikalikimaka


HPP

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

2018 might be remembered as the year of "Almost, But Not Quite First Contact."
The discovery by astronomers in Hawaii of interstellar object Oumuamua may have once again stirred interest in the search for extraterrestrial life:

Wright believes the excitement over Oumuamua, combined with the other recent developments in the field, is breathing new life into SETI research.

“There’s a popular misperception that it’s just people listening for radio signals and coming up with one null result after another,” he says of SETI. He counters that there are actually a tremendous number of ways to search for alien life once scientists broaden their horizons.

This is exactly the sort of unfettered curiosity that Loeb says he wanted to spark with his Oumuamua hypothesis. Even if most of the time it’s natural, every now and then we might be surprised.”

And what a surprise that would be.
https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/how...ncna950991

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

It’s also theorized we may be able to detect interstellar civilizations on exoplanets by using very large telescopes such as the TMT, in a search for silicone technosignatures.

A skeptic might argue that silicon is too human-centric a solar-panel construction material to produce a universal technosignature. Lingam and Loeb, however, gave convincing arguments that it’s the element of choice for solar-powered exocivilizations. There are only a few kinds of light-energy harvesting materials you’d find on any planet. Using the cosmic abundances of the elements, Lingam and Loeb showed that most planets are likely to have a lot of silicon lying around, making it an obvious component for building solar collectors.

For good measure, the two scientists also calculated the reflectance properties of gallium arsenide and the mineral perovskite, both of which might be used in solar panels. Each produced its own distinctive edge in the planet’s spectrum. Now, all astronomers have to do is go looking for these signatures.

Fortunately, the telescopes they need to do so are starting to come online.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...fe/578089/

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

There’s a good program right now on PBS NOVA - Pluto and Beyond:
https://youtu.be/CebYPQcgOc8

The episode begins with a summary of the New Horizons flyby of Pluto, and it’s current approach on Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule. At about the 20 minute mark in the video, the discovery of Kuiper Belt objects in 1992 by two astronomers on Mauna Kea is shown in some detail. Before their findings, the area at the edge of our solar system was thought to be empty. Now we know it’s filled with thousands of fragments, one of which, Ultima Thule was visited a week ago (Jan 1] by New Horizons. The first fuzzy photos revealed a binary object looking something like a two part snowman. As the spacecraft approached*, the pictures become even clearer:
https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/new-ho...ima-thule/

All of this thanks to research conducted 27 years ago on Mauna Kea. Imagine what the next quarter century will bring.

* Thanks PaulW - I changed will be visited to was visited, and approaches to approached. New Horizons reached Ultima Thule on Jan 1st, the delayed images and data continue to arrive here on earth, and will for another 20 months.

[PaulW]

Great stuff, but actually New Horizons already passed by Ultima Thule a week ago. Still waiting for the pictures to get back here.
Yes, who knows what else Mauna Kea will reveal to us.