If you stay up all night, you may see the shadow of the mountain pointing the other way. The Earth has made half a turn since you last saw the Sun.
This silver golfball is the enclosure for the Califonia Institute of Technology's 10 meter Sub-millimetre Observatory, the CSO. The whole building rotates to point the telescope, so the front door is not always where you left it! Like radio telescopes, sub-mm telescopes can work all day, so they may still be open as we drive past them on the way down to bed.
The 'flying saucer' is in fact a lenticular cloud, formed by wave-like structure in the wind blowing over the summit. This one was photographed from Hale-Pohaku just as I was going to bed one morning.
Sometimes this is the best view of Mauna Kea, looking in the rear view mirror as you drive down the access road, en-route to sea level after a long and tiring run at the telescopes.
Pictures of Mauna Kea in Snow? , or jump to La Silla?
John Keith Davies
Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill,
Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ
j.davies@roe.ac.uk
tel: (44) 0131 668 8348 /
fax: (44) 0131 662 1668/
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