Mauna Kea telescope seeks mystery couple after summit proposal at sunset

Some of the universe’s most awesome stellar moments don’t happen in the vastness of outer space. They unfold just as spectacularly right here on Earth.

One of those terrestrial treasures was recently discovered by staff of Big Island-based Canada-France-Hawai‘i Telescope.

They usually explore strange new worlds and seek out extraterrestrial engagements with a 3.6-meter optical/infrared telescope atop Mauna Kea, but on the early evening of Aug. 13 they recorded a unique sunset moment with the front door camera at their unmanned observatory on the mountain’s summit.

A man in white pants drops to one knee and surprises a woman in a knit cap with what likely is an engagement ring. She’s glowing as brightly as any star in the galaxy, her hand on her chest, as he pops the question.

Now, the telescope staff wants to find the mystery couple so they can share the video with them — and wish them “all the happiness in the universe.”

There were no words, “but everyone looked really happy,” said Mary Beth Laychak, director of communications and community engagement for Canada-France-Hawai‘i Telescope.

“It’s a great story, and based on the reaction in the video, we’re almost positive she said yes,” Laychak said.

The sunset summit proposal, which took about a minute, was recorded at about 6:30 p.m. Laychak said at the end of the time lapse of the proposal, the future groom stood up and the couple hugged and kissed.

The proposal wasn’t immediately noticed because the telescope staff observe remotely every night from their headquarters in Waimea.

So it wasn’t until the next night when the observer was reviewing the recording from the observatory’s front door camera as part of her duties when she discovered the couple’s special moment.

The observer grabbed a screenshot of the proposal in the video and shared it internally, with several exclamation points and some emojis.

“Everyone who commented was excited and happy for the couple,” Laychak said.

The observatory has several cameras on its catwalk that look at the sky to observe clouds and weather, including winter snow storms. Those cameras are available to the public on the Canada-France-Hawai‘i Telescope website.

The front door camera is used to see people arrive at the facility and keep an eye on the entrance and ground during winter weather. Those images and video normally aren’t shared because rarely does anything interesting happen there.

“We’ve had the door blow open in extreme winter storm conditions, so it’s been really helpful,” Laychak said about the camera that was installed in 2010. “But never this romantic.”

While at the summit for many sunsets, Laychak said she’s witnessed several proposals and even helped with a couple of them, but said this one ranks up there as one of the greats.

“There is a certain magic for me at (sunset), so I think this couple will always have a really special memory,” she said.

All of Canada-France-Hawai‘i Telescope’s summit cameras are able to be used to make time lapse videos, so another staff member pulled together the proposal footage in case the couple wants it as a memento.

Before seeking the publicʻs help on social media to find the couple, Laychak and the staff member who created the clipped footage watched it to make sure it looked like the woman said yes.

“If the lucky couple is interested, we’d love to share the footage with them,” posted the telescope Aug. 15 on its Facebook page. “It’s a long shot, but if anyone got engaged or know someone who did at the summit Tuesday, August 13th, let us know!”

As of the afternoon of Aug. 23, the telescope’s Facebook post about the summit proposal had 88 likes or other reactions, 6 comments and had been shared 41 times. The Canada-France-Hawai‘i Telescope Instagram post  and X post also had a lot of engagement.

“This is wonderful. I love this!” commented Jesse Rogerson on the telescope’s Facebook post. “What a place to get engaged.”

Grant Matsushige shared the Canada-France-Hawai‘i Telescope post from Facebook in another group asking if anyone there knew them and saying he hopes they are able to be found. He is a former staff member of the telescope.

Connie Roark chimed in on his post saying it was “so sweet.” While Rodney Mitchell said it was cool the proposal happened on the summit of the tallest mountain on the planet.

He’s right: Mauna Kea is 33,500 feet tall from its base on the ocean floor to its peak. That’s more than 4,465 feet taller than Mount Everest.

Instagram user askora commented on the telescope’s post: “My wife and I were lucky enough to propose there too!”

Laychak said she is sure the observatory has been the site of countless proposals, the telescope just so happed to catch this one on video.

“He was promising her the moon and stars?!” commented Alan Dyer on X. “The proposal took her breath away!”

The couple or anyone who might know them can reach out to the telescope via social media or by email at info@cfht.hawaii.edu.