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Discusses the Gemini North observatory on the summit of Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island. How it was put together; Comments from Matt Mountain, who directs the program; When astronomers will take full control of the telescope.

Discusses the environmental and native cultural issues that astronomers are encountering as they build massive telescope projects. The public relations problems that the University of Arizona has found itself in involving the telescopes on mount Graham; The balance between the needs of astronomy and the environment at the Mauna Kea science reserve in Hawaii; How leaders in astronomy must now take on the mantle of the scientist-diplomat.

Announces that on January 28, 1999 the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan exhibited the so-called first light snapshots from Subaru, a optical and infrared telescope built atop Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on Hawaii's Big Island. Details about the telescope.