Gemini North Telescope

It is well worth taking the drive up to the observatory. We went at Sunset. It is cool up there, even before the sun sets, and very chilly once it has. Yes, it is Hawaii, but take a warm coat, you will not regret it. Once the sun is down, you have to leave quickly, they want to preserve the dark sky.

A breathtaking view at the top of Mauna Kea. Bring a parker. It's windy and cold.

Such an amazing place! Spectacular views of the sunset and stars. But be sure to bring warm clothes, it’s chilly up there.

Words are hard to come by when your teeth a chattering like ours were. :) Amazing is just one that comes to mind. The tour was top notch.

Amazing views from up here. It's cold and windy so be prepared. They only allow 4wd beyond the visitors center.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States, the National Research Council of Canada, CONICYT of Chile, MCTI of Brazil, and MCTIP of Argentina own and operate the Gemini Observatory. The NSF is currently (2017) the majority partner, contributing approximately 70% of the funding needed to operate and maintain both telescopes. The operations and maintenance of the observatory is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), through a cooperative agreement with NSF. NSF acts as the Executive Agency on behalf of the international partners. The Gemini telescopes house a suite of modern instruments, offer superb performance in the optical and near-infrared, and employ sophisticated adaptive optics technology to compensate for the blurring effects of the Earth's atmosphere. Gemini is a world-leader in wide-field adaptive optics assisted infrared imaging, and has recently commissioned the Gemini Planet Imager, an instrument that allows researchers to directly image and analyze exoplanets that are a millionth as bright as the host star around which they orbit. Gemini continues to support research in almost all areas of modern astronomy, including the Solar System, exoplanets, star formation and evolution, the structure and dynamics of galaxies, supermassive black holes, distant quasars, and the structure of the Universe on the largest scales.

An amazing Telescope at one of the premier astronomical viewing locations on the planet!

It’s a must visit when on the big island