Politics In Hawaii Threatens To End Astronomy As We Know It (Synopsis) [Starts With A Bang]

“We cannot be vengeful. We need to find pono [righteous] solutions. We need to find good things for astronomers. Cooperation is, I think, really the true part of our human nature, not competition. I think we have to go back to cooperation to survive the future.” -Kealoha Pisciotta, president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou

If you want to explore the Universe, you need a telescope with good light gathering power, a high-quality camera to make the most out of each photon, and a superior observing location, complete with dark skies, clear nights, and still, high-altitude air. There are only a few places on Earth that have all of these qualities consistently, and perhaps the best one is atop Mauna Kea on Hawaii.

Image credit: Subaru Telescope collaboration, of the summit of Mauna Kea.

Yet generations of wrongs have occurred to create the great telescope complex that’s up there today, and astronomers continue to lease the land for far less than it’s worth despite violating the original contract.

Image credit: the Protect Mauna Kea instagram account, via http://ift.tt/1IEO7ZU.

That’s astronomy as we know it so far, and perhaps the Mauna Kea protests signal a long awaited end to that.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1jOhlJX

“We cannot be vengeful. We need to find pono [righteous] solutions. We need to find good things for astronomers. Cooperation is, I think, really the true part of our human nature, not competition. I think we have to go back to cooperation to survive the future.” -Kealoha Pisciotta, president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou

If you want to explore the Universe, you need a telescope with good light gathering power, a high-quality camera to make the most out of each photon, and a superior observing location, complete with dark skies, clear nights, and still, high-altitude air. There are only a few places on Earth that have all of these qualities consistently, and perhaps the best one is atop Mauna Kea on Hawaii.

Image credit: Subaru Telescope collaboration, of the summit of Mauna Kea.

Yet generations of wrongs have occurred to create the great telescope complex that’s up there today, and astronomers continue to lease the land for far less than it’s worth despite violating the original contract.

Image credit: the Protect Mauna Kea instagram account, via http://ift.tt/1IEO7ZU.

That’s astronomy as we know it so far, and perhaps the Mauna Kea protests signal a long awaited end to that.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1jOhlJX