![]() The low oxygen can even interfere with one’s ability to make decisions, another hazard from working at high altitude.Īs far as my gear goes, almost all of it is Nikon. Add to that the effects of high altitude on the body (60% of the oxygen at sea level) and fatigue from staying up all night, makes it extremely challenging when doing photography on the mountain. Shooting time lapse on Mauna Kea can be extremely challenging and intense: Not only do I have to plan the shot taking into account sunset/sunrise times and the moon phase, but I also have to contend with the temperature (average 0 C at night), and weather conditions such as snow (yes, it snows in Hawai`i!), fog, ice on the ground, and high winds (up to 60 MPH or more!). I originally got into time lapses because I was trying to create star trail images using back-to-back exposures, but then I realized I can make time lapse movies out of the data (photos) as a secondary product (always a good thing if one does that in science!). Tons of tourists watching the sunset after I had set up a shot on one of the telescope’s catwalk. For this reason, the mountain hosts some of the largest telescopes in the world, with primary mirror diameters between 8-10 meters. Combining these two conditions, along with the fact that there’s very little light pollution (again we’re in the middle of the ocean), make it the ideal site to observe the heavens. In addition, the high altitude of the observatories means that sits above most of the water vapor (and thus tropical weather) in the Earth’s atmosphere. A gentle mountainside with thousands of miles of open ocean around it means that the air flowing over the island is very laminar (technical word for smooth), and so it provides the best conditions for observing the night skies. Side note: I have many, many, many more awesome photos of Mauna Kea that I’d love to show, but I’ll have to defer them to a future guest post □Ī brief background on astronomy in Hawai`i, the Mauna Kea Observatories is a collection of about 12 telescopes situated 13,796 feet above sea level. The shadow of Mauna Kea can be seen rising on the very right side. Panoramic photo of Mauna Kea at sunset as seen from neighboring volcano Mauna Loa, showing its gradual slopes, and the clouds far below its summit.
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