KapohoKine Adventures - Maunakea Stellar Explorer (From Kona)
This exciting adventure is the only Big Island star tour featuring nighttime stargazing AND safe daytime solar viewing! Our stellar explorers are the best and most experienced in Hawaii, with one having created the Mauna Kea Visitor's Center and operated it for a decade.
Your adventure starts with a delicious dinner, after which your tour guide will set up a state-of-the-art solar telescope and let you safely watch the sun come alive in true color with vibrant solar flares, sunspots and any other current activity, weather permitting.
The tour then takes you across Saddle Road between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, two of the tallest and most massive volcanoes on Earth. Your National Park Service trained tour guide will share fascinating facts about the Big Island's volcanology, geology and history of these monstrous natural wonders, as well as provide narration on the various lava flows and flora and fauna.
Your guide will then take you to one of the preferred locations on Mauna Kea for nighttime stargazing. You'll get the chance to peek through a large aperture Dobsonian telescope under one of the darkest and most pristine skies on Earth. The telescope's fast focal ration enables you to see sprawling wide field views of objects that aren't possible with the types of telescopes used by other tours. Depending on weather and other conditions, you'll observe galaxies, star clusters, nebula, planets, double star systems, the moon and much more. Afterwards, warm up with a cup of Kona coffee or hot chocolate before returning to your hotel.
Tour Highlights:
- Solar telescope viewing
- Views of Saddle Road, Mauna Kea & Mauna Loa
- Stargazing on Mauna Kea
Tour Inclusions:
- Hawaiian style dinner
- Coffee or hot chocolate
- Warm jackets provided
- Use of Dobsonian telescope
Note: This tour does not visit the Maunakea Summit out of deference and honor to Native Hawaiian concerns.
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