Observatories!

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Observatories pictures:

Humans have looked up at the sky for thousands of years, wondering what existed there, beyond their earth bound reach. Early telescopes allowed scientists to track the planets, scrutinize the moon, and ponder spots on the surface of the sun. A Cold War inspired race for technology landed a man on the soft surface of the moon. Modern telescopes, however, allow astronomers to view galaxies millions of light years away from earth. The largest of these telescopes are housed singularly or grouped in complexes called observatories. The observatory pictures on this site show some of the largest and most powerful observatories utilized by contemporary scientists.

Our observatory pictures include the complex at Mauna Kea (Hawaiian for white mountain), Hawaii, the largest infrared, optical, and submillimeter observatory in the world. Astronomers from eleven different countries operate the thirteen telescopes on Mauna Kea which sit forty two hundred meters above sea level, taking advantage of the cloud free nights and the dry atmosphere at that elevation. Observatory pictures of Mauna Kea are indicative of the fact the mountain has the highest percentage of clear nights in the world. The observatory picture of Gemini North at Mauna Kea represents one of the pair of Gemini telescopes that, together, cover the entire sky. Gemini South sits on the mountain Cerro Pachon in the Chilean Andes. Both Gemini telescopes are eight-meter optical and infrared instruments, and, as part of the Mauna Kea system, have more light gathering power than the Palomar observatory and the Hubble telescope combined.

Among our observatory pictures, you’ll find images of the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO). These observatory pictures show the telescope built in the late 1950’s in the Quinlan Mountains of the Sonora Desert to study galaxies and star formations. Though not as powerful as Gemini North, Gemini South, or the complex at Mauna Kea, this observatory is still one of the top observatories in the US. Our observatory pictures of KPNO, framed against the night sky, auroras, and lightning storms are particularly impressive.

Observatories such as these have made possible many discoveries that have changed the way scientists look at our universe, such as identifying red shifted galaxies that seem to indicate that the universe is getting larger. Astronomers at Mauna Kea have discovered the Kuiper Belt, a ring of small bodies orbiting our sun outside the orbit of Neptune. This belt contains at least seventy thousand bodies as large as 100 km across. As you can tell, high-powered telescopes are some the most advanced and expensive tools used by scientists today. For this reason, observatory pictures make for radiant and intriguing images. Browse our selection of observatory pictures from Mauna Kea and Kitt Peak. One would look great on your wall.


James Webb©2005