4 ms·
Mauna Kea is on the big island, north of Kilauea. According to the USGS reports, trade winds are currently blowing the ash clouds south-west, away from the summ
by sizzzzlerz 8y ago
Mauna Kea is on the big island, north of Kilauea. According to the USGS reports, trade winds are currently blowing the ash clouds south-west, away from the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. If the winds shift and start blowing north, I would expect that they'd keep the doors on domes closed. If opened, the ash would not only fall onto the scopes, it would get inside the dome, into all the nooks and crannies, and into sensitive equipment. Just having so much particulate matter in the atmosphere would make observing hard anyway so keeping the doors closed seems to be the best solution.
- danielvf 8y agoJust confirming for those that don't know which Hawaiian island is which, Mauna Kea is on the same island as the erupting volcano.
- Johnny555 8y agoFor further clarification, this island is colloquially called "The Big Island", while its official name is "Hawaiʻi" or "Island of Hawaiʻi", which causes further confusion since that's also the state's name (which consists of 8 main islands and many minor islands). So when news reports refer to "Hawaiʻi", it's hard to be certain what they are talking about without further clarification.