Golden Hour at Maunakea

As the Sun sets over Maunakea, one of the volcanoes constituting the island of Hawai‘i, a soft golden glow washes over the telescopes that call the mountain home. For many, golden hour signifies the closing of a day, the time to begin preparing for sleep. But for staff at Gemini North (left), one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab which is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, golden hour signifies the beginning of the work day. As soon as the Sun dips below the horizon, the telescope domes open and the telescope comes to life. Also pictured here is the Canada-France-Hawai‘i Telescope (right) and, in the distance from left to right, the Subaru Telescope, W. M. Keck Observatory, and NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. All the telescopes on Maunakea are part of the Maunakea Observatories

This photo was taken as part of the NOIRLab 2022 Photo Expedition to all the NOIRLab sites. Petr Horálek, the photographer, is a NOIRLab Audiovisual Ambassador.

Credit:

International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava)

About the Image

Id:iotw2413a
Type:Photographic
Release date:March 27, 2024, noon
Size:7988 x 3876 px

About the Object


Image Formats

Large JPEGLarge JPEG
5.7 MB
Screensize JPEGScreensize JPEG
164.9 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x7681024x768
261.6 KB
1280x10241280x1024
413.3 KB
1600x12001600x1200
578.0 KB
1920x12001920x1200
677.9 KB
2048x15362048x1536
3.4 MB