Friday, October 11, 2013

Mauna Kea

Good Heavens. Full screen is cool.



This is on the island of Hawaii. It says 14,000 feet and that is quite high, just try hiking it. The YouTube description does not mention there is more mountain underwater than above sea-level and altogether the mountain is 33,000 feet, more than twice the height of Mt. Everest base-to-peak.  

31 comments:

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

... there is more mountain underwater than above sea-level and altogether the mountain is 33,000 feet, more than twice the height of Mt. Everest base-to-peak.

Yea... our perception is adobe sea level heavy.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

(1) "Manichean" is one of those words I never heard anybody use until maybe 10 years ago.

(2) Same thing with "mediate" as a verb.

(3) And then there's "synecdoche." I tried using it for the first time about 3 or 5 years ago. A young lawyer corrected my pronounciation and for that I was eternally grateful.

(4) Recently I've been hearing people use "emergent" as if it were a combination of "urgent" and "emergency." That's not incorrect -- it's a use approved by my dictionary -- but still I wish they'd stop doing it.

The Dude said...

Wiki lists that "base to height" number, and that struck me as wrong. But I see what they are getting at - if you start from the floor of the pacific you have a taller mountain than if, as is the case with Everest, you start from dry land.

They should start from the center of the earth to be fair. A mountain doesn't get to choose where it is located.

The Dude said...

EtFB - how does "conversate" sound to you? We can dialogue about that.

Chip Ahoy said...

Orientate and commentate are both good words, but ick.

Because orient and comment are smaller and better.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

I meant above, up above, not adobe. adobe was Rushmore

Sent from up Above

chickelit said...

Wiki lists that "base to height" number, and that struck me as wrong.

You're picking quibbles. There is adequate flat baseline around the cone which tops out above sea level.

Mauna Kea gets snow regularly in the winter. This ads yet another microclimate to Hawaii's Big Island.

The Dude said...

Been there, seen that. Skipped Nepal, however.

bagoh20 said...

Let's go! We can all meet at my house, and take the 5 hour flight (guaranteed non stop). Mai Tais, luaus, warm beaches, jungles, mountains, live volcanoes, amazing waterfalls and vistas surrounded by a pristine warm ocean teaming with an endless variety of colorful and strange life, Kona coffee, and the elusive taro chip.

bagoh20 said...

"A mountain doesn't get to choose where it is located."

That's not what they tell me.

Paddy O said...

My browser home page is the Astronomy Picture of the Day.

A NASA run site that gives some daily wonder from their archives.

The whole site has been down for the last while. Apparently, governments pay for websites using a daily fee.

Every time I open my browser I'm reminded of the pettiness of our present administration.

deborah said...

Beautiful vid, Chip. I love seeing the stars appearing to rotate around us.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I so wanna go!

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I wonder if they allow visitors up there?
Would it not be the most amazing thing to get a tour and a glimpse out of that telescope... Heavenly.

deborah said...

Yes it would.

deborah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chickelit said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chickelit said...

My son and I drove up to the telescopes to have a look a couple years ago. You can park next to the white buildings and from there take a short hike to the summit.

When we were flying back to CA, the flight path passed close enough to the summit that we could clearly see the same cluster of white buildings from the air, above a layer of clouds.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Pollo-
Did they allow you inside the white buildings?

chickelit said...

No

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Dang |-(

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Pollo - Wonderful that you and your son hiked up there, though.
Really - I'll bet not many people do that.

bagoh20 said...

It's incredibly stark on top of these volcanoes. No vegetation - just lava and occasionally snow. You come up from the warm beach through various microclimates of jungle, woodland, prairie, and many miles before you get to the summit it just turns to pure rock and gravel. It's a very unusual experience.

Revenant said...

My browser home page is the Astronomy Picture of the Day. A NASA run site that gives some daily wonder from their archives.

I'd forgotten about that site. It used to be my homepage too, a few computers back.

Hm, I foresee many wasted hours this weekend. :)

deborah said...

Paddy, that's a neat idea to have it as your browser home page. Every day a new image.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I've been to the top of Haleakala crater on Maui. Via the internal combustion engine, rather than on foot. That would be one crazy hike.
People do hike around inside the crater.
It is unusual and amazing. (and cold up there!) One way to think of it is-- from the sea floor, these are some of the tallest mountains in the world.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Those telescopes would be mobbed with tourists if they opened it up to the public,. Still - they should allow Lem's Learning Levity in for a tour. We are special.

The Dude said...

I used to ride my bicycle up Mt. Hamilton where Lick Observatory is located. You could go inside those buildings, so I did.

They have some cool stuff in there - a seismograph, with some strong earthquakes singled out for special attention, pictures of various astronomical features taken through those scopes, and one of my favorites, the ultimate long lens picture of Yosemite valley - taken by turning the telescope westward and horizontal, and there you have it - all the way across the central valley, a cool shot of Yosemite.

Watching a television show the other day I learned that there are ties from the people who worked there to Einstein's early work. Who knew?

bagoh20 said...

It's not the Big Island, but this is how to view Oahu.
Birdseye

And for the scarier perspective, watch how it looks from on board.
What a rush!
Jump!

The Dude said...

Westward? Damn, I must be tired. That was supposed to be eastward.

William Wallace Campbell was the guy who was working to prove or disprove Einstein's theory of relativity. He journeyed far and wide trying to get his instruments to the site of a total eclipse.

I was thinking Haber was somehow involved in all this, but he wasn't. Just lookin' for a chemistry angle, beyond physics and astrophysics.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Wonderful videos. Beautiful hang-gliding and scenery.