[▲ Colata lavica del Mauna Loa ripresa all’Osservatorio Gemini sul Mauna Kea (in fondo a destra) (Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)]
This is a night view taken with the exterior camera of the “Gemini North Telescope” on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. It was taken on November 29, 2022 at 2:15 am local time. On the right side of the picture, you can see something like a bright orange river. This is lava flowing from Mauna Loa, which is adjacent to Mauna Kea.
Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in 38 years since 1984 at around 11:30 pm local time on November 27, 2022 (around 6:30 am November 28 Japan time). The Gemini Observatory’s Gemini North Telescope records the starry sky and weather each night with an external camera, but the south-facing camera image captures the state of Mauna Loa, which continues to erupt.
If you look above the lava flow, you can see a vague pillar-shaped “pillar of light”. According to the National Institute for Optical and Infrared Astronomy (NOIRLab) of the National Science Foundation (NSF), which released the image, it is a “solar pillar”, visible when sunlight reflects off the ice crystals around the dawn and dusk. very rare to be caused by lava light.
According to NOIRLab, the Mauna Loa eruption poses no threat to observers on nearby Mauna Kea and the lava flows are far from inhabited areas (as of Nov. 30, 2022). Meanwhile, the lava flow crossed the access road to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Mauna Loa Observatory on Mauna Loa, cutting off power to the observatory. All observatory personnel are safe, but the observatory is no longer accessible, according to NOAA.
The Subaru Telescope of the Japan National Astronomical Observatory in Hawaii is also located on Mauna Kea. The Subaru Telescope shared images on Twitter that capture two very different aspects of the two mountains: snow-covered Mauna Kea and lava-flowing Mauna Loa.
Mauna Kea covered in snow (11/28 morning) and Mauna Loa with flowing lava (11/29 early morning). Two tall mountains on the Big Island of Hawaii display contrasting views. Mauna Loa has been erupting since approximately 11:30 PM on November 27, 2022 local time.Subaru telescope pic.twitter.com/xo14J8EafH
— Subaru Telescope National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (@SubaruTelescope) November 30, 2022
The first image was released on November 30, 2022 as one of NOIRLab’s Photos of the Week.
Source
- Image credit: Gemini International Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
- NOIR Lab – Mauna Loa Lava and Light Pillar captured on camera from Gemini North
- NOAA – ESRL Global Monitoring Laboratory – Mauna Loa Observatory
Text / Takehiro Matsumura
