mountain profile Institute for Astronomy University of Hawaii

History of astronomy in Hawai`i

Maintained by CGWW

Walter Steiger and John Jefferies are the founding fathers of astronomy at University of Hawaii.

Steiger built a research program in solar physics and an observatory on Haleakala, while Jefferies expanded to include planetary, stellar and extragalactic astronomy, and oversaw the building of the first telescopes on Mauna Kea.

Here are their personal accounts of the early days of astronomy in Hawai`i

 

Walter Steiger

         Origins of Astronomy in Hawai`i

 

John Jefferies

         Astronomy in Hawaii 1964-1970