[meteorite-list] Manua Kea Telescopes Knocked Around

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Oct 19 12:22:09 2006
Message-ID: <200610191622.JAA22080_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061019/NEWS01/610190344/1001/NEWS

Mauna Kea telescopes knocked around
By Audrey McAvoy
Associated Press
October 19, 2006

The massive jolt that rocked Hawai'i damaged some of the world's most
advanced equipment for gazing into outer space.

Scientists at many of the 13 telescopes atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island
are still examining their implements to gauge the extent of the
problems. Many have suspended their celestial observations to inspect
equipment for flaws.

Christian Veillet, executive director of the Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope, said an encoder - a device enabling astronomers to keep track
of what part of the sky they are looking at - had a chunk taken out of
it when Sunday's magnitude 6.7 earthquake lifted his telescope up and down.

"That device has been smashed and crushed by the telescope at the time
of the main shake," Veillet said. "It looks like you took some butter
out of it with your knife, and it's really solid steel we are talking
about."

Veillet said his crew is rebuilding an encoder assembly with spare
parts. At the earliest, Veillet said, his telescope could be operational
again at the end of the week.

The Canada-France-Hawaii telescope's mirror and all of its optics
emerged unscathed. Its digital camera - the biggest in the world - is
also fine, he said.

Still, his team hasn't finished checking for damage and it's too early
to say to what extent the telescope was affected by the quake, Veillet said.

Mauna Kea's ideal conditions for observing space have attracted some of
the most technologically advanced telescopes on the planet to its slopes.

The mountain's 13,796-foot elevation gives the telescopes a clearer
picture by lifting them above a great deal of weather. Mauna Kea's
location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean also offers clear air
because there are no nearby extensive mountain ranges to disrupt the
atmosphere.

Two of the more famous telescopes on the peak, at the W.M. Keck
Observatory, also took hits in the jolt, the most powerful to strike
Hawai'i in 20 years.

The Keck telescopes' mirrors and optics are fine, but the radial pads
and brakes that support the 300-ton structures on their mounts must be
removed and replaced, said Laura Kinoshita, an observatory spokeswoman.

She said inspection showed the telescopes came down on the radial pads
and brakes with about 100,000 pounds of force during Sunday's temblor.

Once these are replaced, the Keck's engineers will have to recalibrate
both telescopes to account for the seismic shifts that moved the Keck I
telescope more than 1/8 inch and the Keck II telescope more than 1 inch,
Kinoshita said.

That's because the observatory relies on software to tell instruments
where in the sky the telescope is pointed, based on the telescope's
previous location.

"In astronomy, even a movement by a few nanometers makes a significant
impact on the accuracy of our systems," Kinoshita said. "So we need to
update our systems to factor in the new position of the telescope."

Peter Michaud, a spokesman for the Gemini Observatory, said his
facility's biggest problem was testing the equipment to make sure the
telescope survived the quakes OK. Some have compared the task to setting
up a new telescope.

So far, though, the Gemini Northern Telescope appeared to have no
problems, he said.

The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility also appears to be in good shape.
Allen Tokunaga, its director, said his astronomers were able to operate
their telescope normally when they tried it Tuesday.
Received on Thu 19 Oct 2006 12:22:03 PM PDT