of Wakea (the sky father) and Papahanaumoku (the earth mother). “I think everyone is here today because of aloha for the mountain,” she said, after welcoming the two dozen visitors. “Whether you’re a cultural practitioner, a scientist … we have mutual aloha for this island, this mountain.” While explaining the Kumulipo, she said Hawaiian culture counts genealogy from the time of creation, not just from parents or grandparents. “We go all the way back to the beginning,” Yuen said. “… That time when the entire cosmos was this wailing blackness and darkness that coalesced until finally it gave birth to light … and all time was born.” She said that reminds them that they are a “little piece in this great big cosmos.” Another mele describes deities on Maunakea — Poliahu, the snow goddess, and others — that Yuen explained reflected a deep understanding of hydrology and other forces of nature on the mountain. “Whether you believe in them as a deity or you want to use them for a metaphor of hydrology of the mountain, or whether you just enjoy the poetry, the changes these songs talk about is still extremely accurate,” she said. The tour started with 24 people a month, but has since been expanded to 48 to meet demand. Still, spots fill up in the first five minutes on the website, kamaainaobservatoryexperience. org. The only requirement is a Hawaii driver’s license. The tour’s soaring interest comes as no surprise. Congratulations on your 50th Anniversary There’s no shortage of chicken skin moments. Sitting atop of 270 tons of steel, Keck’s twin 10-meter mirrors are made of 36 hexagonal segments. They are the biggest optical Supersta Mea Celestia Dinin A Brigh Spo onHilo Ba Sunday, December 24, 2017 13 Mexican Fiesta Mondays Wack-O-Lamb Wednesdays Lobster Lovers Thursdays Hilo Sturgeon Sundays Pau Hana 2-5pm Sunday Brunch 11am-2pm NEW! Tiki Bar Live Local Music! Open Daily 11am-10pm www.pondshilo.com 135 Kalanianaole Ave. • 934-7663 (POND) Reach for the Stars Shoot for the Moon Drop by at Ken’s Morning, Night & Noon! 1730 Kamehameha Ave. • Hilo 935-8711 Ono Grinds...Anytimes! • Jammin’ Since 1971 telescope mirrors in the world, next to the 10.4-meter Gran Telescopio Canarias in Spain’s Canary Islands. Keck was the first to use this method and the telescopes have proved to be an immense success, capturing distant exoplanets and the most distant galaxy to date. The mirror’s surface is as smooth as it gets, and it can be almost easy to miss. As the group walked in, the telescope was angled toward the dome’s walls, creating such a flawless reflection that at least one visitor commented they thought they were looking through to the wall on the other side. The illusion disappeared as the telescope effortlessly changed position. When the dome opens at night, these 3-inch-thick segments together become a large window to the universe. Ed Hickey, summit tour host, explains the mirror segments are continually being refinished to keep them flawless. “At the end of the year, they will get done with Keck 1 and then come back in January to do Keck 2,” he said. “So, it’s like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. You’re never done.” The telescope works by reflecting photons to a secondary mirror, which focuses the light and sends it to a third mirror that directs it to one of the instruments. Each telescope dome is chilled to that evening’s forecast temperature, making them much colder than the rest of the facility, to eliminate any air disturbance in TOUR From page 12 See TOUR Page 14 HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald Leilehua Yuen is a cultural practitioner. Hawaii Tribune-Herald
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