A Peaceful Panorama on Maunakea

This Image of the Week features Gemini North, located on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, on the far right of the panorama. Gemini North is one half of the International Gemini Observatory, supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab. In the center, a pastel sunset retreats under the glowing arch of the Milky Way. Also witnessing this picturesque sky is the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) on the left side. Projecting up from the horizon to ‘cut’ through the Milky Way is the zodiacal light, a faint glow caused by sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust. Try zooming in to look at the details of the landscape and the telescopes.

The Milky Way is shaped like a disk, but appears straight when we look at a small portion in the sky. In this extremely wide-angle image the Milky Way appears as an arch because of the way the image is projected. In the fulldome projection of this image, where the horizon is circular, you’ll see that the Milky Way is a straighter line through the sky.

You can also find an even wider 360-degree panorama version of this Image of the Week here.

This photo was taken as part of the NOIRLab 2022 Photo Expedition to all the NOIRLab sites. Petr Horálek, the photographer, is a NOIRLab Audiovisual Ambassador.