Officials evaluated several potential locations for the Thirty Meter Telescope - such as the Atacama Desert in Chile and the San Pedro Mártir mountain range in Baja California - before choosing Mauna Kea as the most advantageous spot.Īreas around the summit are home to more than 260 historic properties, including 141 shrines. The twin, 10-meter Keck Telescopes on Mauna Kea have allowed astronomers to make important discoveries about the nature of black holes, exoplanets and other topics. Lastly, Mauna Kea is near the equator, which enables scientists to view large swaths of both the northern and southern skies.

In addition, there are no large cities nearby to cause light pollution. “The mountaintop is probably the best site in the world - I repeat, in the world - from which to study the moon, the planets and stars,” he famously declared.Īt 14,000 feet high, the summit rises above most clouds and much of Earth’s atmosphere.Īlso, being an isolated mountain in the middle of the Pacific means no neighboring ridges to create turbulence in the prevailing wind, which would interfere with astronomical observation. Consider the outcry if we built the (Thirty Meter Telescope) on the Dome of the Rock or the Sistine Chapel.”ĭutch-American astronomer Gerard Kuiper pushed for funding to build the first telescope on Mauna Kea in the 1960s. “The astronomer in me wants to see it built, but I also recognize that this is sacred land.

They didn’t return phone calls and social media requests seeking comment for this story.Īt UC San Diego, Adam Burgasser, who has lived in Hawaii and used several of the 13 telescopes on the mountain, sees the merits of both sides.

New hawaii telescope