A silhouetted bare tree embraces the crescent moon. Sunset Hill, Mauna Kea, Big Island, Hawaii, USA.

A silhouetted bare tree embraces the crescent moon on Sunset Hill on Mauna Kea, on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. For colorful sunset views of the Saddle Road region, walk 1 mile round trip (160 ft gain) to the cinder cone of Pu'u Kalepeamoa, or Sunset Hill, from the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station at 9200 ft elevation. About a million years old and last erupted 6000 to 4000 years ago, Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, USA. Mauna Kea stands 13,800 feet above sea level and is the highest point in the state of Hawaii. Measured from its base on the ocean floor, it rises over 33,000 ft, significantly greater than the elevation of Mount Everest above sea level. Paving ends at the Visitor Info Station, and four-wheel drive is recommended to reach the top, where Mauna Kea summit's dry, clear, stable air makes one of the world's best sites for astronomy. Since the road created access in 1964, 13 telescopes funded by 11 countries have been built at the summit. In a tour de force of early science, expert seafaring and astronomy skills allowed far-flung Polynesians to discover and settle Hawaii around 300-600 AD. Ironically, from 2013-2016, plans for a wondrous Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) atop Mauna Kea attracted protests by Native Hawaiian groups who cited cultural/religious/political grievances, and the project was sadly postponed. The TMT could potentially look across space and time to the first stars that ever shone in the universe, over 13 billion years ago (and would energize the local economy).

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Filename: 1701HAW-2676.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
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Contained in galleries: Highlights 2017, USA: Hawaii: favorites, Hawaii: Big Island, 2017 Jan 16-Feb 6: Hawaii: Oahu, Kauai, Big Island

A silhouetted bare tree embraces the crescent moon on Sunset Hill on Mauna Kea, on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. For colorful sunset views of the Saddle Road region, walk 1 mile round trip (160 ft gain) to the cinder cone of Pu'u Kalepeamoa, or Sunset Hill, from the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station at 9200 ft elevation. About a million years old and last erupted 6000 to 4000 years ago, Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, USA. Mauna Kea stands 13,800 feet above sea level and is the highest point in the state of Hawaii. Measured from its base on the ocean floor, it rises over 33,000 ft, significantly greater than the elevation of Mount Everest above sea level. Paving ends at the Visitor Info Station, and four-wheel drive is recommended to reach the top, where Mauna Kea summit's dry, clear, stable air makes one of the world's best sites for astronomy. Since the road created access in 1964, 13 telescopes funded by 11 countries have been built at the summit. In a tour de force of early science, expert seafaring and astronomy skills allowed far-flung Polynesians to discover and settle Hawaii around 300-600 AD. Ironically, from 2013-2016, plans for a wondrous Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) atop Mauna Kea attracted protests by Native Hawaiian groups who cited cultural/religious/political grievances, and the project was sadly postponed. The TMT could potentially look across space and time to the first stars that ever shone in the universe, over 13 billion years ago (and would energize the local economy).