Tag Archives: Mauna Kea Sunset

UFO or Lens Flare? You Decide!

Awesome view from the snowy summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii with a glowing orb floating among the high tech telescopes. What is that glowing orb floating around? A UFO? Or an artifact easily explained by the science of optics and light?

Mauna Kea Observatory at Sunset

Panoramic view of sunset from the Mauna Kea Astronomical Observatory using the Samsung Nexus panoramic image capture function of the built in camera. With high winds and well below freezing wind chill biting at my fingers, I wasn’t as smooth as I would like panning the phone across the horizon. The phone still managed to capture a decent panoramic photo of an amazing sunset from over 13,000 feet with some of the worlds most advanced ground based telescopes in the foreground.

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Panoramic shot of sunset from the summit of Mauna Kea using the panoramic image capture function of the Google Nexus phone.
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Sunset near the observatories on Mauna Kea. Telescopes from left to right: Japan's Subaru Telescope, the twin Keck I and II scopes, and NASA's Infrared Telescope (IRTF)