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3 unusual facts about Mauna Kea


Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex

It consists of Hakalau Forest on the windward side of Mauna Kea and Kona Forest on the western side of Mauna Loa.

Last Glacial Maximum

On the Island of Hawaii geologists have long recognized deposits formed by glaciers on Mauna Kea during recent ice ages.

Mauna Kea State Recreation Area

Mauna Kea State Recreation Area also known as Mauna Kea State Park, is a state of Hawaii protected area at the southern base of Mauna Kea.


Aeolis Mons

Compared to the Andes, Aeolis Mons would rank outside the hundred tallest peaks, being roughly the same height as Argentina's Cerro Pajonal; the peak is higher than any above sea level in Oceania above sea level, but base-to peak it is considerably shorter than Hawaii's Mauna Kea and its neighbors.

Astronomical seeing

The best conditions give a seeing disk diameter of ~0.4 arcseconds and are found at high-altitude observatories on small islands such as Mauna Kea or La Palma.

AU Microscopii

AU Microscopii harbors its own disk of dust, first resolved at optical wavelengths in 2003 by Paul Kalas and collaborators using the University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

GRB 090423

Within 20 minutes of the burst, Nial Tanvir and his team found an infrared source at the Swift position using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Its 3,718-metre (12,198 ft)-high summit is the highest point in Spain, the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic, and it is the third highest volcano in the world measured from its base on the ocean floor, after Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea located in Hawaii.

Volcanic Seven Summits

Even if this continent is defined instead as Oceania (thus adding New Zealand and Polynesia including Hawaii), Giluwe remains the highest volcano since it exceeds the elevation of Mauna Kea in Hawaii and any volcano in New Zealand.

Waimea, Hawaii County, Hawaii

Waimea is also home to the headquarters of two astronomical observatories located on Mauna Kea, the W. M. Keck Observatory and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.


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