Olivier Lai will discuss “Ohana, A Family of Telescopes on Mauna Kea” at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 7, at the monthly “The Universe Tonight” program at the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Information Station on Mauna Kea.
Ohana means family in the Hawaiian language. Therefore, it’s the name of the project that aims at linking existing telescopes of Mauna Kea into one giant synthetic telescope.
When all the telescopes are working together toward a common goal, they can support each other and achieve performance in a way that is much more than the sum of its parts, just like a family, noted Lai. OHANA, then, is the acronym for the Optical Hawaiian Array for Nanoradian Astronomy.”
“Recent technological advances in the adaptive optics and infrared optical fibers have enabled this exciting and ambitious idea to develop an 800-meter synthetic telescope using the technique of interferometry,” said Lai. Mauna Kea is host to four of the largest (8-10-meter-class) telescopes in the world as well as three 3-4-meter-class telescopes, all serendipitously arranged on the semi-circular caldera.
“Optical fibers can be used to transport the light of each individual telescope to a common focus, with the crucial attribute of having very limited impact on the site or the infrastructure,” said Lai.
This project started more than 10 years ago. The astronomers were able to obtain first results using fibers between the two Keck telescopes, but fought harsh and inclement weather for five years without luck.
The next phase of the plan, that is currently happening, is to try to connect CFHT with Gemini. In the course of testing the components, Olivier and others have developed small and light interferometer using 8-inch amateur telescopes called Ohana iki (iki means small in the Hawaiian language).
Everyone is invited to hear Lai discuss adaptive optics and interferometry in layman’s terms to emphasize the amazing scope of this instrument, as well as the history of the project to provide the context of this international collaboration on top of Mauna Kea.
The Universe Tonight is a free presentation on the first Saturday of every month, when a member of the Mauna Kea astronomy community shares his or her mana‘o and research with the public. For more information, call 961-2180 or visit www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis.
